


Every Little Thing

by FrostedGemstones22



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, To All the Boys I've Loved Before Series - Jenny Han, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, But more like a 7+2 thing, Christmas at Hogwarts, F/M, Lara Jean a Charms Master, Mutual Pining, One Word Prompts, Peter the Quidditch Jock, Slow Burn, Sort Of, plus before and after, the letters as howlers, will follow the plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2019-07-11 15:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15974975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostedGemstones22/pseuds/FrostedGemstones22
Summary: Peter Kavinsky and Lara Jean Covey both go to Hogwarts with goals; for Lara Jean, to become a witch that will make the memory of her mother proud. For Peter, to date Lara Jean Covey.Or, seven times Peter tried to date Lara Jean, one time he didn't, and the one time he did.A Harry Potter!AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Ahh, guys, I'm just obsessed with Covinksy. And Harry Potter (but what else is new?) so, clearly, they needed to be mixed together.**

**At first I was going to do a 5 plus 1 thing, but then I made it a 7 plus 1 thing (you know, seven years at Hogwarts, plus the after of it all?) but it more turned into a 7 plus 2 thing. But, I realized as I was writing this up, I didn't really have a prompt like '7 times that blank and two that blank', it's more just like 9 prompts over 9 years...hmm. So, I made one up quick XD Each chapter will have a word prompt I did on a random generator thing, just to give me a little direction!**

**So, it's '7 times Peter tried to date Lara Jean Covinsky, the one time he didn't, and the one time he did'.**

**This will sort of kinda follow the plot of TATBILB in Hogwarts form, some things changed, some not. Very loosely inspired, if you will.**

**The title of this fic comes from the song 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic', originally by The Police, but the cover by Sleeping at Last is GORGEOUS and is what I suggest you all go listen to :)**

* * *

 

* * *

_BEFORE: Dolorific_

Lara Jean's mother died when she was young and most of the time, growing up, she didn't think about it.

If she had to pick out of her siblings, Lara Jean thinks she got off the best with regards to her mother's death. Margot, even being two years older, was just old enough to really remember Eve Song, and misses her deeply and angrily. Kitty was too young to truly remember her mother, so she's always walked around with only stories and videos to supply her truths. Lara Jean was old enough to have a good picture of her mother in her mind and remember the way that she used to bake them cookies or dance with them during rainstorms, but she's also young enough that it's just soft and warm feelings that remain, instead of the pain and anguish that her father and Margot retain from her death.

Lara Jean remembers the black coffin, the mourners and feeling strange and out of place. She was old enough to feel sad, but not without also a bit of confusion.

Overall, her father has done a marvelous job raising the girls without Eve, and it's only passing moment when Lara Jean really misses her mom.

The biggest thing, though, that Lara Jean can never forgive is the fact that the trio of sisters grew up utterly as muggles.

Eve Song had been a witch that had fallen in love with a muggle-born doctor and all but left the magical world behind. Lara Jean can hazily recall her mother taking her and her sisters to Diagon Alley, but that was only on special occasions. When she thinks hard about her memories she does have of her mom, she realizes that the cookies Eve made had frosting that shifted colors or that when they were dancing, the dresses they'd pretend to be princesses in would dance with them too. Lara Jean alo knows she has a whole other side of her family somewhere, behind a wall with spells and charms, but she doesn't think she's ever met them. When they ask her father about it, he says that mom's family didn't take kindly to her choosing to marry him, and usually that's all that's ever said.

Her father, bless his soul, has truly tried. However, how can you teach three budding witches anything about magic when you hardly understand it yourself?

Her father has never tried to hide this life from them, but Lara Jean will also agree he hasn't gone out of his way to educate them. Their house looks like any average non-magical house, no dragons in the windowsills or owls brining the Daily Prophet, no Puking Pastilles smuggled in their lunchboxes, no broomsticks by the doorway waiting to be ridden. Of course, to Lara Jean, the lack of these things were never an issue, not until Margot turned 11 and got her Hogwarts letter.

Their father would never say 'no', so of course, Margot left for Hogwarts. She sent Lara Jean and Kitty back 'Hogwarts; A History' to read and wrote often. She was sorted into Ravenclaw and soon, most of her letters were filled with things- references- that Lara Jean did not understand. They'd never been taught any spells at home, even in theory. She'd never heard of things like 'howlers' or 'Quidditch'. Lara Jean had no idea what it meant to be Ravenclaw, or to be any of the other houses, and Margot thought this was all inexcusable.

When she returned home even at Christmas, Margot was horrified with the state of their house, with the succinct lack of magic in their everyday lives.

"Well, other kids must go there not knowing anything. What about muggle-borns? Like with two non-magical parents?" Her father has asked, scratching his head. Margot had just opened and closed her mouth in horror before stalking into the living room, where Lara Jean was sitting. Kitty had chosen to continue this argument and Lara Jean heard it all play out.

"It's part of our blood!" Margot had said in a horrified whisper when Kitty had asked why they needed to change, since Kitty liked things the way it was.

Lara Jean had sat by the fireplace, sipping hot cocoa and grimacing as she watched her two sisters go at it.

That's when the truth had all been revealed. Margot had been mortified when arriving at Hogwarts to be told by others, to not know herself, that their mother was the daughter of one of the oldest and most prestigious families of wizarding blood to walk the Hogwarts halls or the Wizarding World.

Despite her mother's maiden name being 'Song', her family name- the one that mattered, Margot informed them all- was 'Black'.

Their maternal grandmother had been a Black and had gone off and met a wonderful wizard from the East, who bore the last name 'Song'. Since their grandfather had been from an affluent wizard family too, and his lineage could be traced and verified, this union was okay. When their daughter had gone off and married a man of literally no magical genetics, this was not.

"Well, why would we want to be part of a family that blasted mom's name off a pedigree tree?" Lara Jean finally spoke up, crankily, from the couch when Margot was finished explaining.

Margot just looked at Lara Jean like she was crazy.

"When you go to Hogwarts, you'll understand what it's like!" Margot said after a few flabberghasted moments, before going upstairs and slamming the door to her bedroom.

Lara Jean wasn't sure she was going to go to Hogwarts. She hadn't exhibited any magic at all, and even Kitty had a burst or two here and there. Maybe she was the non-magic one of the family, she thought.

After that, Margot started going by 'Margot Black' and encouraged her sisters to do the same, once they arrived. Kitty was adamantly against it. Her father looked a little heartbroken, but just would say that he couldn't fault Margot for attempting to get in touch with her family history.

Lara Jean ran the name over her tongue, trying it out.

Lara Jean Black.

It sounded a little strange, but also a little right.

She tried it out with her other last names. Technically, she also retained her mother's last name, so officially she'd be...what? Lara Jean Song Covey Black?

Ugg, that just sounded like a mouthful.

A mixture, maybe? Lara Jean Black Covey? Well, that name certainly sounded closer to what she would prefer, but it still just felt odd. Margot told her she just needed to say it more often, and then she'd grow accustomed to it. She said it would be better go to already prepared to call herself that than to have to awkwardly adjust as Margot had.

Lara Jean decided not to make any hard and fast rules about what she'd call herself. All she was concerned about was if she'd actually get to go or not. She tried to share her concerns with her older sister, but Margot was less than helpful.

"Of course you'll go to Hogwarts. It's part of us. You've gotta."

God-, no, Merlin...she hoped.

xXxX

Lara Jean had lived next to Josh Sanderson for as long as she could remember. When her parents had moved into their house, the Sandersons had already been there for years. Lara Jean, Josh, and Margot were a trio of toddlers that their mothers would take onto the lawn on warm days and take turns watching when the other had something going on. Her entire life, she'd known Josh.

As they'd gotten older, Margot had found friends her age and Lara Jean has stayed closer friends with Josh. He was perfectly in between the pair in terms of school years, although he was only six months older than Lara Jean. Stupid school year cutoffs, Lara Jean often bemoaned, since she'd found herself in love with Josh since they were pretty young. And, she often thought, that maybe if he were her own year, things would be easier. She'd be able to tell him, she figured, instead of keeping her feelings close to her chest.

However, Lara Jean was also happy to be his best friend, which she was for him and vice versa.

After Margot left for Hogwarts, Lara Jean relied on Josh even more. She thought, a lot, that maybe not going to Hogwarts wouldn't be so bad, since she'd be able to stay around Josh. They could grow up as muggles together (although, Josh had no idea what sort of witchy magic lay in the house right next to his) while her sisters went off and had their own adventures at Hogwarts. Lara Jean could hear about their stories and just read about it in books, and this seemed to be a perfect mixture of the worlds. She wouldn't have to worry about what her name would be or what house she'd be sorted into or how to make her dad feel like he wasn't losing all of his daughters more and more.

The spring after Margot began Hogwarts, Lara Jean went to find Josh, like she did everyday after school. She found him curled up against the trunk of the oak tree in his back yard and he wasn't as talkative as he normally was. Lara Jean brightly tried to make-up for his sullen silence, hoping eventually he'd warm up or tell her what was going on.

Eventually, when it had been nearly two hours of Josh just staring out into the distance with a faraway look on his face, Lara Jean had enough.

"What is eating you?" She finally snapped, a little more forceful than she meant to.

"Something...weird happened." Josh finally said, gnawing on his lip.

"Weird, like…?" Lara Jean frowned, shrugging, "Weird like your dad just danced through the house in drag or weird like you thought you marked your place in a book and it turns out you didn't, though you can vividly remember that you did?"

"Weird like I can't explain it," Josh was obviously trying to piece things together, albeit badly, "I was just...I got into a fight with my mom and the vase on the windowsill just exploded out of nowhere. Lots of strange stuff has been happening lately, I guess. I turned my lights on by just thinking about it a week ago. I thought I saw the rain stop when I looked at it when it stormed real bad last month. I dunno, I think I'm going mad."

Lara Jean felt her breath catch.

Was Josh...a wizard?

However, there was no way to prove this. It could all just be coincidences, although Margot and Kitty's magical outbursts were strangely reminiscent to both of these things. However, if Josh wasn't a wizard, Lara Jean wondered if it was worth getting his hopes up at all?

So, Lara Jean said nothing. Well, not nothing. What she said was;

"Huh, that's strange. You been sleeping enough?" She added it with a smile and after a second, Josh laughed.

"Maybe not. I guess I'm just really playing it all up, huh?" He asked.

But, from that moment on, Lara Jean watched him closely. And, on his birthday that summer, when she saw a very out-of-place owl drop a letter with a Hogwarts seal on his doorstep, Lara Jean stayed away all day, even when he coming knocking on her door, letter in hand, face shining like the sun.

Well, it was obvious now, Lara Jean had to go to Hogwarts.

When she came around to being excited for Josh, who was off the walls excited and thrilled he wasn't going to have to be sent to a mental institution, she talked it up incessantly. She let him borrow Hogwarts; A History and he devoured it like she had when Margot sent it to them. She showed him all her artifacts that their house had begun to collect. She convinced her father to take them all to Diagon Alley to get Josh's broom, since the Sandersons were very thrilled, but also very unaware of the world itself. Of course, her father wasn't much better, but he at least knew some of the tricks of the trade to get them past the secret entrance (or, what to tell Tom the Bartender) and knew to go to Ollivander's for wands, Flourish and Blotts for books, and Madam Malkins for robes.

It was the first time that Lara Jean had been there since she was very young, since a kind Hogwarts professor had taken Margot last year.

And, although Lara Jean still had no magic, she knew that she absolutely had do do everything in her power to be able to come back here, to live here, to go to the same school as her sister...but also as Josh.

So, she convinced her father into buying her a beginner's level textbook of basic spells. Yes, she didn't have a wand, but she'd been hearing about 'magical outbursts' for a year or so now, and figured that maybe, if she practiced enough, she'd coax her magic out on it's own.

Josh left for Hogwarts with Margot on September 1st that year, and was sorted into Hufflepuff. A perfectly fine house.

He wrote often, usually ending letters with some variation of 'I can't wait until you're here too!'

Lara Jean worked for a year by the glow of her nightlight, mouthing spells over and over with her hands out in a ridiculous fashion, willing the magic to flow from her fingertips. For a Alohomora to open her bedroom door, for a Wingardium Leviosa to lift her scrunchie from her quilt into the air, for a Lumos to light up the candles on her windowsill. She read all the theory, memorized the wording until she could pronounce it perfectly, and by all accounts would have been practicing the spells to a level of perfection that Josh- who was currently learning these skills in the moment- did not possess.

She couldn't tell Margot, she told herself, she couldn't. She had a feeling her father knew her worries, and she was equally glad and disappointed he didn't ask her to talk about it. He'd made one comment about it, once, but Lara Jean had snapped at him enough to make him regret saying anything. She wished she hadn't, but she didn't know how to bring it up again. She didn't know how to tell anyone.

She told Josh one day, a week before her own birthday.

'Do you think they'll send a letter if I'm a squib? Would they know?' She wrote him. Her biggest fear, other than never getting a letter at all, was getting a letter wrongly and going to Hogwarts and having to be asked to leave because she couldn't do anything.

'I think the know better than that," Josh replied back, 'But you shouldn't worry. You've been a late bloomer for everything, why are you surprised that this is any different?'

However, Lara Jean still worried. She simply could not help herself.

The days leading up to her birthday were filled with dread that churned in her stomach and kept her up at night. It made her unable to eat anything at all, even when her dad attempted to cook some of mom's old classics. It left her awake in the night, staring at the bookshelf with her hoard of wizard things, running through spells under her breath and hoping for something to happen, anything.

The day before her birthday, Lara Jean didn't want to leave her bedroom at all. Even her father promised to take her out to get ice cream and new books could not budge her.

She just sat at her window on her bed, staring across the street at Josh's unused tree-house. She wondered, when she didn't get her letter tomorrow, how she'd be able to survive, knowing that her family and Josh were all part of this wonderful world she wasn't a part of. Maybe she'd switch to Margot's old room, so she didn't have to see that anymore. Maybe she'd convince her dad to move.

It's funny, since two years ago, she hadn't even wondered about what Hogwarts or Diagon Alley was like, thought her life would be anything more than ordinary...and then, and then…

Now, that's all she could imagine. She'd put all her eggs in one basket. She'd thought about how she could work at the Ministry of Magic one day, or maybe at a magical bookshop, or she could be going on adventures and researching weird wizarding animals. She could do anything.

True, she could still do anything here, but it simply wasn't the same.

She lay on her bed, growling in frustration and anger. She spun onto her stomach, burying her face into her pillow.

"Nox" She mumbled, more out of repition than anything else.

Above her, the lights dimmed and Lara Jean nearly jumped up, thrilled.

"Lumos!" She said, and the lights came on.

The next day, Lara Jean got her letter to Hogwarts, and in that moment, all was well.

xXxX

For Peter Kavinsky, there was never any question he'd get his letter. He'd already gotten it, in fact, by the time Lara Jean got hers.

He was a half-blood by science, but could have passed as a pure-blood by status. Both is parents were half-bloods who had done great things at Hogwarts, claimed their fame, settled down and produced two magical sons that were making sparks in their bassinets before the could walk. He'd lived in and around the Wizarding World his whole life, summers spent at the Quidditch World Cup (whenever they could go), and weekends spent in Hogsmeade watching the students in their house scarves parade around.

Peter had gotten a toy broom at the age of six and, whenever possible after, he was flying. His parents had a large field in the background and Peter was determined to be on the Quidditch team at Hogwarts, like his father before him and his grandfather before that. He'd spent his years with broken bones from trying maneuvers labeled 'DO NOT TRY AT HOME' (but never listened anyway) and a couple chipped teeth from rocky landings. His mom would just sigh, wave a wand or murmur an enchantment, sometimes he had to drink a nasty potion, but most of the time he was patched up to go cause more mayhem on his body as though the original wounds had never happened. He rarely had magical outbursts, since they were contained and he came in contact with magic enough to balance it out.

To Peter, having magic was like breathing; he often took it for granted. It felt as natural as anything else.

The first time he considered, ever, that some kids didn't learn magic like he had- as an integral part of their life- was when he met Lara Jean Covey.

Of course, Lara Jean wouldn't remember the first time they met, as he hadn't even spoken to her. She'd be a little surprised when he'd tell her, years later, since it was a day that she recalled all the moments of, but hadn't recalled seeing a young messy-haired kid missing his front tooth. She feels she would have remembered Peter.

He'd seen her, at age 10, in Flourish and Blotts surrounded by first-year charms books, and thought that she looked far too young to be looking at Year One textbooks. That, and the fact that it was during the week, so if she were a Hogwarts student, she would have been at school.

He hadn't meant to spy on her, but she'd intrigued him. So, he'd stayed on the other side of the bookshelf, keeping his head low, but his eyes in the space between the books, just...watching.

"Lara Jean, we have to go soon."

"Dad, please, can I get a couple books?" The girl- Lara Jean, apparently- said, gathering a whole stack in her arms, looking to her father with large, pleading eyes. Her father was wearing muggle jeans, something Peter recognized but did not see often, and from the way that the girl was dressed too, Peter wondered if she was completely muggle-born.

"That's hardly a couple," Her father ruffled her head, "Two." He said firmly. Lara Jean began to methodically sort through the books, "Hon, these are books you'll get next year anyway. Wouldn't you want more, uh, exciting books?" He asked, "Kitty is getting a picture book that pops up and moves like a TV and Josh is basically hyperventilating about the books on dragons."

"Well, who says I can't get some practice in before I go next year?" Lara Jean asked. Peter tilted his head; that would mean they'd be in the same year. Maybe he should try to befriend her, he thought. He didn't know a whole lot of other kids his age.

Her father seemed to see something that Peter did not, for his whole face set into a pained lined and he knelt beside Lara Jean, "Baby, this isn't going to make magic appear if it's not-,"

"It's there!" Lara Jean yelled over him before her father could finish, "It is. I know it is." She didn't sound as sure as her words may have let on.

"Just because you haven't seen any magic, though-," He father tried again.

"I have!" Lara Jean stomped her foot, "I just, er, didn't want to tell you. I exploded a vase." She said in a quiet voice. Peter could tell from the way her fingers quivered it was a lie, but her father seemed to believe it.

"You know that I'm proud you're all witches, right?" Her father tried to reach out to her again, "Your mother would be proud too."

"I know," Lara Jean whispered, "Look. I'll pick two and find you in a sec." She said, a clear dismissal.

Her father seemed to hesitate, but let her be. Peter furrowed his brow...did she not have magic? Could she not produce it, meaning to or not?

He saw her flip to a page in the textbook. She reached into her pockets, taking out what looked like a little scribble of paper of notes to herself, perhaps places to visit here in Diagon Alley. With a decisive lock of her jaw, she crumpled the paper in her fists. She held her hand out, palms up and paper extended, holding in a deep breath as her eyes scanned the page.

"Incendio," She whispered, a fervent prayer, her lips mounting the word with a precision that even Peter did not master. When his father said that charm, it sounded so simple. When Lara Jean said it, it sounded magical, it sounded like lyrics to a song, it sounded beautiful. There was a moment in which Peter could feel his heart beating rapidly, as he wished so hard that the little ball of paper would catch on fire.

When it did not, however, and Lara Jean's face fell, Peter just knew that she had not seen a lick of magic. But, as quick as the disappointment seeped across her face, it was replaced by a more purposeful look. Peter half expected her to slam the books and leave them, but instead, Lara Jean picked two of the beginninger's spell books and loped her arms around them, striding away with a burning in her eyes and a walk to her step of a girl who was not about to give up.

"Covey! C'mon, your dad says we only have an hour left, and I want to go to the pet store and pick my owl," A gangly boy called to her, his arms loaded with supplies for an upcoming school year.

In the back of his mind, 'Covey' rang a bell.

Peter wanted to reach out to her, but found himself unsure of what to say anyway, and just watched her walk away.

That night, he asked his parents about it.

"Covey," His mother rubbed her chin, "I'd check the Pure Blood book we have in the back, but if it's who I think it is, it probably wouldn't do much use," She admitted.

"Yeah, burned off the tree, wasn't she?" His father agreed, "The daughter of the Blacks that ran off with that muggle. I always wondered what happened to her."

"She's a Black?" Peter couldn't help but blurt. Of course, the Blacks were one of the most prestigious Wizarding families around.

"Technically, yeah," His mother agreed, "However, it sounds like they don't go by that anymore."

Peter almost told his mother about what he'd seen, but felt like it was far too personal, and decided to keep this secret close to him.

Of course, after that, they didn't talk about them much again. Peter just mentioned that he'd heard that name today, and that it sounded like something he'd heard before. It wasn't surprising, since the scandal was still whispered about, even now. His parents didn't know much more about the girl either, much to his dismay, although his father did say he was fairly sure that there was currently a Covey at Hogwarts, a Ravenclaw.

That was too much of a coincidence. A sister, Peter assumed. And that was a good sign, wasn't it? That one sibling was already magical?

He asked his parents what the chances were that a pure-blood and a muggle would create a squib.

"Entirely possible," His father, the scholar between the pair, replied. And, that answer broke his heart, just a little, "Not even unheard of."

"It's more common for two purebloods to create a squib, though, dear," His mother interjected, "Actually, there's quite a lot of theories out there that it's the introduction of non-magical blood that assures any children to be magical. Something about the expansion of the magical signature." She waved a hand fork, thinking, "After the Second Wizarding War, there was a great push for purebloods to marry muggle borns, but marrying straight out a muggle is still a sore subject. At least a muggle-born is magical."

"It's all just theory, anyway," His father shrugged, "Hardly anyone cares anymore, except for really old houses and such, but they're a dying breed as it is. Most everyone is a half-blood now." He said, "Why the sudden interest?"

"Just something Greg was saying," Peter lied, staring down at his plate. He'd been told he was an awful liar. The girl in the bookstore was much better than he was at it. Of course, this wasn't a life and death matter, so his parents didn't press him too much. They continued on with dinner, and the conversation switched to discussing how Bulgaria was doing in the current Quidditch games and how there was a game coming to England soon, so maybe they'd take Peter.

And, while this would usually hold Peter's undivided attention, he couldn't help but let his mind wander back to his day and he found himself strangely unable to push her out of his mind, even when two premium tickets to a great match were being talked about. A part of him, though, couldn't be prompted to care. Another part of him felt guilty, since Quidditch was just an everyday conversation to him and he wasn't even sure this girl had ever seen someone fly a broom before, which was simply unacceptable to him. But also, very, very sad and not really fair.

That night, he thought a lot about the girl he'd seen. How her eyes had devoured the page with an eagerness Peter would never have from reading a textbook. How her mind had swirled and tried harder to produce magic than Peter ever had in his life. How, maybe speaking truthfully, as a Black, Lara Jean had more right to practice magic than Peter did. How he knew that if she got the chance to study magic, she'd never be bored or dulled by it, but in constant wonderment. How she'd use magic for things, instead of expecting magic to be done, as Peter did most of his life.

He wished on a star, despite knowing how faulty wish magic was, but told that space dust that- if he could- he'd switch places with Lara Jean and give her his magic. Then, he rescinded it a little since his next thought was that he wanted to be around to see what she did with magic and just prayed and prayed she'd go to Hogwarts and they could be in the same house. Peter wished to be friends with Lara Jean Covey, a witch (a wish he felt in his bones so intensely that it scared him a little), who he just knew- out of everyone- deserves a chance for her shot at the world that had so much to offer.

* * *

 

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**So there you go! First chapter, done! Each chapter will be a year at Hogwarts with both Peter's and Lara's POV :)**

**I pretty much have all the characters sorted, but tell me which house you think everyone's in, just for fun!**

**Also, if you have any questions about the universe, just ask about it. I'm sorta making a quasi-canon world where like, the events of the HP books happened, but like...we may have cameos of characters, but it's not gunna be real obvious.**

**If you go to my art tumblr, youngbloodlex22, you can see aesthetic boards I made for Peter and LJ already, which sorta spoils what house they'll be in, as well as the cover :)**

**Please review if you like this!**


	2. YEAR 1: September

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it! The first time LJ's at Hogwarts.
> 
> If a bunch of you are confused and like 'wait! Gen and LJ are enemies!' I haven't forgotten. However, the plot of the movie would take place around her sixth year, and her and Gen were friends at one point. And we're going to see that fallout!
> 
> Remember to review if you liked this.

Come September 1st, Lara Jean is quite ready. Mentally, she's been ready for Hogwarts since she got her letter. Physically, she's been packed since mid-August. And, in that time, she's unpacked and re-packed about a thousand times, with a thousand different combinations of clothes and items with her. Margot was no help with what she'd need, since Margot always was a sort of 'things that happen, happen' sort of personality, whereas Lara Jean very strongly needed a structure. Josh was equally useless since he was a guy and therefore couldn't tell Lara Jean with any sort of certainty that she may or may not need hairgel at Hogwarts.

So, Lara Jean packed and unpacked to near obsession, until her father took away her chest of drawers and said she could have one more adjustment and after that, this was staying locked. So, Lara Jean waited until the night before and then carefully examined each item before deciding to just bring it all anyway. She was going to be living here for the better part of nine months, so, it wasn't ridiculous that she was cramming her trunk completely full, right?

The night before, she didn't sleep at all. She just stared at her wand- alder, dragon heartstring core, ten and ½ inches- her fingers itching to reach out and use it. The day in Diagon Alley she'd received it was the most wonderous feeling she'd ever felt. It had been soaring, it had been like every fiber of her being was lighting up, it had felt...well, cliched to say, but magical. And Lara Jean couldn't believe what she'd been missing out on all these years.

Lara Jean did not sleep a wink, but instead tried to imagine what it would be like to walk through those doors of Hogwarts for the first time.

XxxxX

Peter slept remarkably well the night before he left for Hogwarts. In truth, he was ready to go out and leave home. He was just about the age where his parents were staring to annoy him and his younger brother was just a little too irritating to love all the time. Peter was only packed and ready because his mother had helped him, otherwise, he may not have been at all.

Peter wondered if he'd see Lara Jean Covey on the platform tomorrow? If so, what would he say to her? In all, Peter was very concerned about a situation that hadn't arose surrounding a girl he hardly had met. If Greg, his best friend, knew...Greg would probably call him crazy.

It wasn't like he thought about her all the time, however, whenever he thought of Hogwarts, she seemed to pop into the back of his mind, a nugget of a reminder about this...girl. A girl who Peter couldn't wait to meet.

It sort of felt like fate, didn't it?

XXxxxX

"Just run right at it?" Lara Jean looked at Margot with a raised eyebrow, "Okay, you're kidding."

"No, really," Josh said, nodding. This was the first time Lara Jean had been to Platform 9 and 3/4s, since the other years, she'd just said her goodbyes outside or at the house, "How else would we get there? There's 9, there's 10." He said, pointing at the signs.

"I'm not trying to get you to nose-dive into a brick wall," Margot rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Lara!" She snapped, shortening her sister's name.

"Look, I'll go," Josh said, tugging his black and yellow tie with a nod, "See? Watch." Lara Jean threw her hands up, fully preparing to see Josh break a bone doing this, but shockingly he just...vanished.

"Ahem?" Margot tapped her foot, "I think you owe me an apology." Their father opened his mouth to try to ease the tension, but Lara Jean just gave an aggravated sigh.

"Fine, fine," Lara Jean rolled her eyes, "But you can't blame me for thinking such things! Do you remember when you convinced me that if I jumped from the tree house, I'd fly?"

"Can't help it yo were a gullible kid," Margot smirked, "But c'mon, we're going to be late," she tugged her father's arm through the stone, Kitty trailing behind. Lara Jean grabbed her trolley firmly, squeezing at the front as she took in a tight breath. Then, she ran.

The other side of the wall was filled with students loading their trucks on and parents kissing their children goodbye. It looked almost normal, except for the fact that there were owls squawking, mothers magically fixing their children's ties, and enchanted things whizzing around.

"Woah," Lara Jean felt her eyes go wide.

"Hugs?" Her father held out his arms. The two girls embraced him each on one side. Margot broke off first, a couple of her friends calling her name. Her father and Josh helped Lara Jean load her things onto the loading docks, Lara Jean promised to write twice a week, and then she was getting onto the train.

"Well, I'll uh, see you when we get there." Lara Jean shuffled her feet on the carpet.

"Oh, I thought we'd sit together." Josh's face fell. Lara Jean's heart thumped in her chest.

"We can! I just thought, well Margot ran off so quickly-,"

"That I'd leave yo alone in favor of my cool Hogwarts friends?" Josh guessed. Lara Jean shrugged, feeling red in the face, "Lara Jean, I've been waiting all year for you to join me! I'll have the entire year to hang out with them, and you, but I think we can ride up there together."

"Sure," Lara Jean felt dizzy with happiness, "Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to be weird about it." She laughed to herself.

"Nothing has changed," Josh insisted, guiding her to an empty carriage, "You're still my best friend." He said, linking their pinkies, "I swear."

"You too!"

Lara Jean was already feeling much better about, well, everything.

Kids passed by, and the halls were filled with flying paper airplanes and lighthearted chatter. Once the train had started chugging along, there was a knock on their door.

"Hey, the rest of the places are sorta filled...can we sit here?" It was a boy with an ensemble of three others trailing after him, looking a little lost. From their simple black robes, it was clear they were first years as well. Josh and Lara jean looked at each other and shrugged, nodding. Lara Jean scooted to the opposite side of the compartment to allow them to sit.

"Second year?" A girl with puffy blonde hair asked Josh.

"Uh-huh," Josh held out a hand, like the nice person he was, "I'm Josh Sanderson."

"Peter Kavinsky," The boy who had knocked on the doors asked, "This is my friend, Greg. That's Genevieve and her cousin, Chris. And you?" Peter turned to Lara Jean, examining her with a fire that she was completely unprepared to see in his eyes. She felt her brain go a little fuzzy for a second, until Josh nudged her leg.

"Yes! Sorry, I'm Lara Jean." She said, unwilling to offer a last name. She still didn't know what surname she was going to go with, despite Margot telling her for the umpteeth time it should be 'clear'.

"Nice to meet you, Lara Jean," Peter said, her name sounding familiar on his lips in a way that made her wonder if they'd met before.

"So, you must be muggleborns," Chris said, "We all knew each other, sort of." She waved to her companions. Gen hit her cousin's shoulder.

"That's rude, Chris! You can't just say that."

"It's fine, I'm a muggleborn," Josh nodded in an easy-going way, "This girl here, well-,"

"I'm a half-blood, technically, but I may as well be a muggleborn. It wasn't until my sister got her Hogwarts letter two years ago that I really started learning about this world." She could admit this, Lara Jean decided, "However, I've already read the first year textbooks, a bit. I didn't want to fall behind."

"You're probably farther than I am, then," Greg snorted, "I haven't even touched them. Not a finger. In fact, my mom was the one who bought em, so I don't even know where they are in my trunk," which caused everyone to laugh. Lara Jean couldn't help but grin too. This, she decided, would be just fine.

The conversation flowed easily. They got a lot of food to share between them all when the trolley came around and Lara Jean felt like she belonged to something. She also took note of this group, since some of these people- or all- might end up being her friends and roommates.

Peter was the clear leader and a goofball. He had the group in stitches most of the time, from his dramatic renditions to his witty quips. He also adored Quidditch and he and Josh found a common ground in this.

Greg was just as outgoing as Peter, but his humor was a little more specific, making a lot of jokes that only a couple people got, sometimes Lara Jean did and sometimes she didn't. He also wasn't as warm as Peter. Where Peter gave a feeling of wanting to be around, Greg could be a little….much.

The cousins were very different, Chris was blunt and curious whereas Gen was more reserved and traditional. She liked both of them, she decided, although Chris' questioned sort of rubbed her a strange way. Plus, she didn't like the way that the girl's eyes just seemed to look right through Lara Jean.

Eventually the topic migrated to Hogwarts houses, unsurprisingly.

"Well, I hope for Gryffindor," Peter admitted, grinning, "Both my parents were, so, there's that."

"Huffpuff is nice too," Josh said, tugging at his robes.

"Oh, for sure, for sure. 'Nice' is everything they are!" Peter agreed, "I've never met a mean Hufflepuff, so, there's that."

"My sister is a Ravenclaw."

"Do you think you'll be?" Peter turned to Lara Jean, examining her.

"I don't know." Lara Jean admitted, "I'm not sure I'm cut out for that."

"Do you think it's just like taking tests like, all the time?" Chris gagged, "I don't think I could do that!"

"No," Josh scoffed, "They take the same amount of tests as anyone else. Being a Ravenclaw is about being curious and wanting to make changes, you know, not stick to the status quo."

Everyone turned to Josh because clearly, of all of them, he had the authority of knowing this sort of stuff.

"Huh." Chris said, as though this information genuinely surprised her.

"I think I could be in Ravenclaw," Gen said, "I guess I just really trust where the hat puts me. It's not wrong."

"Even in Slytherin?" Greg pretended to seem horrified. Or he was, Lara Jean wasn't sure.

"There's nothing wrong with Slytherins, mate," Peter said with a disapproving glare.

"Old habits die hard," Josh shrugged, looking out the window, "But yeah, most of them are okay blokes. Personally, I find Gryffindors to be more irritating." He gave a teasing grin.

"I mean, Slytherins have done a lot to distance themselves from their more...unsavory pasts." Gen was still going, "So no, I guess I wouldn't be upset."

"Hey, sorry, sorry. It was just a question." Greg held up his hands, "Really, didn't mean to ruffle anyone's fathers."

Lara Jean had wondered what house she'd be in. It was strange, she saw herself going to Hogwarts, but she didn't see her house clearly. Margot claimed that she'd known she'd be a Ravenclaw and the hat had sorted her nearly immediately. Josh said he hadn't been surprised when his house was proclaimed. Even Kitty was fairly sure she was set for Gryffindor, a claim that Lara Jean didn't think was untrue. Her, though? She could see herself being a Hufflepuff, not just to be with Josh, but she did like tot hunk of herself as a nice person, a good worker too. She was smart, but she didn't think she wanted to ge in the same house as Margot, because maybe she wanted to make a name for herself. She wasn't daring, so she was pretty sure Gryffindor was out. And Slytherin? She hadn't thought much of the house itself.

As far as Lara Jean was concerned, the best guess was Hufflepuff, but she didn't feel that with the certainty both Josh and Margot had talked about before.

She knew she belonged here, but Lara Jean just wasn't sure where.

Xxxx

Standing outside of the grand doors to the Dining Hall, Peter watched Lara Jean. He'd been looking for her when Greg had found him, along with the cousins Gen and Chris, who he knew in passing. The three had seemed like the lost little first years that he knew people usually made fun of, so Peter put it upon himself to take care of them, even if he was a first year himself. It had seemed like providence when he found Lara Jean in a nearly empty cabin and she'd allowed him to sit.

The entire ride, Peter had been biting at the bit, almost wanting to tell Lara Jean how pleased he was to see her here, how he'd watched her in Flourish and Blotts almost a year ago and had nearly had a panic attack when he didn't see her on the platform. But, there were other people and that would be weird to say, so he didn't.

She'd never answered about what house she'd be in. Peter really, really, really hoped she'd be in whatever house he was, because then he had an excuse to talk to her more.

Of course, Peter had decided he'd talk to her no matter which house, because even just in the ride here, Peter had deduced that Lara Jean was absolutely wonderful and perfect in every way.

Lara Jean seemed a little more unsure now that the boy she was friends with was gone. Josh had seemed fine, a little forgettable to be honest, but Lara Jean brightened when he was around. She felt familiar with him there, Peter realized.

He pushed through the crowd to stand by her.

"Worried?" He asked.

Lara Jean jumped a little, before giving him a tight smile, "yeah." She admitted freely, "You?"

"Mostly excited." Peter felt his heart hammering, "I mean, this sets us on a path for the next seven years, you know?"

"Yeah, and that's terrifying," Lara Jean seemed a little less awkward looking now that he was there, which Peter considered a win on his part.

"But also exhilarating, wouldn't you say?"

Lara Jean gave a wry laugh, "Look at you with your big vocabulary."

"I read the dictionary in my spare time," He teased, "But did you really read all our textbooks?"

"I mean, I'm at a disadvantage and I want to start this off right."

Peter leaned in, "I'd hardly think a Black would be at a disadvantage." He murmured. Lara Jean stopped breathing just for a second, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you don't want to know."

"I'm not a Black," Lara jean finally hissed back, "My grandmother was a Black."

"It still runs through your blood." Peter shoved his hands in his pockets, "That means something to a lot of people."

"I'd rather make my name apart from it, thanks," Lara Jean said, and Peter just grinned at the way her nose scrunched up.

"Hey, your secret is safe with me." He said honestly. Lara Jean examined him for a second.

"Thanks," She said slowly, "Though my sister has made it her mission to tell everyone, so it might not matter."

"Still," Peter wanted her to be able to rely on him, "I think you'll be a great witch." He said sincerely. As Lara Jean's lips parted and her ears turned pink with his praise, Peter decided he wanted to make her look like that more often.

However, McGonagall was opening the door for their Sorting Ceremony and Peter didn't have much time to say anything else.

He didn't pay attention to a lot of names, not until Lara Jean's, "Covey, Lara Jean."

Lara Jean got up on that stool, her feet dangling.

And then, nothing happened for a long time.

Lara Jean, who had enchanted his thoughts constantly, was a hatstall and this seemed strangely appropriate.

Then, finally, the hat operated its mouth.

"Slytherin!"

XXxxx

The moment after the Sorting Hat called out, all Lara Jean felt is relief. She has her placement. She belongs. For a terrible, terrible moment, she feared that she would be the first student in history that the Sorting Hat decided that she fit into no house, and she'd be kicked out of Hogwarts.

There is a moment of silence, at least in Lara Jean's mind, where it all seems to click into place.

Then, there is a great roar of cheering as her new housemates are welcoming her.

Her eyes search the crowd for reactions. The first face she looks to is in Ravenclaw, to see what Margot thinks. Margot's lips are partially open, in not quite shock, but almost like she hadn't considered this, but was starting to see it. She sees Margot shake out her head and then clap, smiling and nodding.

Next is Josh. She half-expects Josh to be scowling, to be upset she's not a Hufflepuff, or judge her for being placed in Slytherin. But she knows Josh too well for this. As expected, he is openly cheering and clapping for her, and gives her a thumbs up as she hops down from the stool. She sees him nudge a fellow student, pointing, as though to say 'this is the girl I've been telling you about'. It makes her feel better that Josh isn't going to cut associations with her just because she's wearing different colors than he is.

Her next mission is to try to catch the faces of the people she met on the train. Greg's nose it turned up at her, which just reminds her that while public opinion of Slytherin have been mended, some people still will judge her. Some people will always expect the worst of her.

The cousins are whispering to each other. Gen offers her a smile as she passes, Chris just tilts her head, examining her with those far-away eyes that send a shiver down her spine.

Peter looks...well, if Lara Jean didn't know better, she'd say heartbroken. Maybe just disappointed. Maybe he's hiding his disgust too.

She's being herded to her table, so she can't look at him for much longer.

"Welcome!" An older Slytherin greets with a smiling expression, "They'll tell ya it's a lie, but you got the best house of the lot, you hear?" He says.

Lara Jean is placed next to a girl in second year, as she's the first Slytherin of the night. The girl is very talkative and immediately makes Lara Jean feel more at home. She says she's talked to Margot once or twice, but she's so pleased that Lara Jean has been sorted with them. A third year down the table says that they think Margot could have made a fine Slytherin, so it's unsurprising that Lara Jean is here. They say they're excited to see what Lara Jean does. Slytherin is the type of house where nearly everyone who comes through makes a name for themselves. Good, or bad, a name is a name all the same.

"She's got Black blood," One of the prefects says conversationally while re-filling his glass of pumpkin juice, "I'm more surprised Margot got placed in Ravenclaw than Lara Jean here."

Oh, so they all know.

"Don't listen to anyone," The older Slytherin who had first sat Lara Jean down- she'll later learn her name is Mafalda Flint, "If they tell you the Blacks are crazy. Andromeda Black is sane and reasonable. Even Narcissa Malfoy, who was a Black, is a smart girl. One or two bad eggs don't speak for the whole of a house."

"Sirius Black was sort of crazy," Another person says, chuckling and scratching their head.

"But he was also a hero."

By this point, Lara Jean has missed a grand portion of the sorting. Two more Slytherin have been added during this conversation, neither people she met from the train. They both are wearing equally relieved faces and Lara Jean scoots over, though there's still a lot of room on the bench.

In fact, she's right in time to hear McGonagall calling "Kavinsky, Peter".

"You know him?" One of the first years murmur, nudging her, "Wasn't he sitting with you on the train?"

"Just met him today," Lara Jean whispers back quietly, but she cannot stop watching him.

XXxxXX

Peter wiped his palms on his black robes, inhaling hard as he sat on the stool. He watched as McGonagall lowered the hat, until it was sitting on his head.

_A brave boy, has a tendency to get into trouble when he shouldn't. I've seen a lot of your type. It's obvious you should be-wait, what's this? Why would you ask for Slytherin?_

Peter gnawed on his lip, as he felt his eyes slide over to Lara Jean. She was watching him like a hawk, and he looked away quickly.

_You would not thrive there, believe me. A girl is no reason to go to a house, though others before you have certainly tried._

Peter frowned. Didn't he know where he felt he should be? Mentally, he begged the hat, to put him in Slytherin. To put him with Lara Jean.

_I've seen in your head. I've placed thousand of students, Young Mister Kavinsky. You would blunder about in Slytherin. That is not the place for you._

But, Peter wanted to shout, She's-

_One day, you'll understand, and you will thank me._

"GRYFFINDOR!"

XXxxXX

Lara Jean shouldn't have been surprised. She should have expected it, honestly. She didn't know why it took as long as it did for the hat to declare Peter's house. It seemed obvious. What other house could it possibly be deciding between?

"All the cute ones go to the other houses," The girl who had asked about Peter sighed under her breath, scowling.

The rest of the sorting seemed to drag on. She was informed that this was one of the largest years in Hogwarts History, but that wasn't too much of a surprise. 2001-2002, the year most of the students were born, was right after the war. There was always a surplus of kids after a war.

Christine Lovegood, who frowned at the usage of her full first name, was put into Ravenclaw. After hearing her last name, a lot of people at the Slytherin table hummed, as though it was expected.

Genevieve Prewett joined Lara Jean in Slytherin. Lara Jean made a spot specifically for her to sit, relieved she had a familiar face with her. Gen gave Lara Jean the brightest smile at her motion, taking her hand and squeezing it. Lara Jean had a feeling they'd be good friends.

The last of the names and faces she recognized, Greg Thomas, was put into Gryffindor. The hat hardly touched his head before it was shouting it out. Greg and Peter did a cute little handshake at being paired together.

By the time that Headmistress McGonagall got up to speak her beginning of the year speech and wave for the food, Lara Jean was exhausted. So exhausted that the thrill she would have gotten of the food appearing right in front of her hardly phased her. She felt like a zombie, loading up her plate of potatoes and ham, feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Want dessert?" Gen nudged her, "I saved two Chocolate Frogs from the train."

Lara Jean took one, and together they opened their sweets. Gen's frog hopped away immediately, but a fourth year stabbed it with a butter knife, returning it to Gen sheepishly.

"I got Ron Weasley," Gen flashed her card, "I got loads of him. Who'd you get?"

"Erm, Bertie Bott?" Lara Jean read the card.

"They always put a bean in with his card!" Gen said, diving for the discarded package, "Yuck, with this one, I can never tell if it's vomit or fruity-tutti."

"Vomit?" Lara Jean choked out.

"Yeah?" One of the other new Slytherin first year girls, Lara Jean thought her name might have been Calliope or something weird like that, asked with a frown, "Haven't you ever had one?" Her voice wasn't friendly or confused, it was frosty and calculating.

"No, I haven't," Lara Jean felt her face flush. She took in a great sigh, "I was basically raised in the muggle world."

"But...you're a Black? Why?" The girl was looking at her like an alien.

"I'm a Covey-Song," Lara Jean snipped back impatiently, "My dad's a muggle."

She could practically see the girl's opinion of her harden, and the girl turned away pointedly from her. She thought she almost overheard the girl whisper something along the lines of 'I didn't think we were letting those sorts in still', until she was reprimanded sharply by a prefect.

"Ignore her," Gen whispered, "She's a Yaxley." If this meant something, Lara Jean didn't know what, "Sometimes, her family forgets that Voldemort lost the war," Gen continued, raising her voice so the girl undoubtedly heard.

"I'm not upset," Lara Jean said, but in truth, she was. How could she not be?

Mafalda chatted all the way down to the Slytherin common room, pointing out the various fixtures of the castle, herding the first years like sheep down, further and further into the dungeons.

By the time that they'd reached the door to her new common room, Lara Jean had so much info thrown at her she hardly recalled any of it. None of it was in Hogwarts, A History. She would have remembered.

Mafalda kept them in the common room a little bit longer, saying that tomorrow their school robes would be delivered and reminded them they could always find her if they felt unsure about anything. She then opened the First Year dorms and left the students to their own devices.

There had only been five Slytherin girls sorted this year. It was an unusually low number, as Lara Jean had picked up in casual conversation from the older students. The Slytherin boys were clocking in at 9, which was far more usual. 5 Slytherin girls would have been respectable fifteen years ago, but it was a little lacking this year.

A fifth year had said next year they were bound to get a lot. The Sorting Hat was always weird like that.

As it turned out, it meant that Lara Jean had few people to turn to when things started getting ugly.

Gen clung to her with the loyalty of a Gryffindor, sending distrustful looks toward the gaggle of other Slytherin girls. Yaxley strode toward their new dorms, turning up her nose at the close grouping of the five beds.

"So awful there wasn't more us," She said loudly to one of her companions, "The boys are split up in two dorms. We all know I wouldn't be sleeping with her otherwise." Her eyes slid back to Lara Jean, "You can sleep over there," She waved a hand like she was talking to a dog, motioning to the furthest back bed.

"She can sleep wherever she wants!" Gen bristled.

"It's fine," Lara Jean said, quietly, coolly. She refused to let this horrid girl see her upset, "It's closest to the heater anyway. I doubt she can cast a reasonable statis charm yet," She shrugged, praying she wasn't shaking, "Her loss."

Yaxley seemed at a loss to Lara Jean's reply, but Gen was grinning ear to ear. The blonde girl huffed, noisily opening her trunks, making a whole show of it. Lara Jean just quietly said goodnight to Gen, changed into her PJs, and curled up in her bed, closing the curtain.

Lara Jean didn't know a charm to silence around herself yet, so she bit her lip until she heard the four girls around her slip into a slumber. Then, grasping her wand and a piece of parchment, she slid out into the common room.

She'd had every intention to write home, feeling like this might consolidate her thoughts. However, curled up on an ornate chair pressed against the window looking into the lake, the words wouldn't come.

She'd felt so good about being in Slytherin. Could this be a mistake? Was that nasty girl right? Maybe she didn't belong.

_Ah yes, quite the difficult one, the Sorting Hat had purred in her mind, intelligence, that's clear. You are the sort to never miss a day of school, never drop an assignment. But, is a thirst for knowledge or a thirst to belong? And, what's that-your sister is there. You may only fall under her shadow._

_Hufflepuff would suit you well. Your heart is pure, untouched. You have friends there._

_But what's that I see? Hiding in the corners? You want to prove yourself. You crave it. You want to belong, or carve out your place in this world, even if it does not take you. You have perseverance, you have determination. You are committed._

_No opinions any way? My, my that is interesting._

_You're between a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff...tell me, Miss Covey, what do you desire more in this world? To be the sort of person people write about that you always lent a helping hand, or that you sailed above the average witch or wizard? I can tell you, Hufflepuff will take you and love you. Slytherin will worship you._

And, as much as Lara Jean thought maybe she had wanted to be with Josh, somehow, her unconscious mind had been made up.

However, she did consider she was in far over her head, that she'd been foolhardy. She'd only had the first spark of any magic less than year ago, whereas some students had been doing accidental magic from the day they were born!

She didn't realize she was crying until her paper was dripping ink.

A door to her left opened. She stiffened, trying to curb her whimpers, as a portly man in an outrageous nightgown stepped outside, blinking in confusion.

"I didn't mean to wake you, sir," Lara Jean quivered, hunching her shoulders at her Head of Slytherin House.

"My dear girl," Slughorn put on a bifocal, sounding concerned over irritated, "Why are you crying?"

Lara Jean hesitated, wiping off her cheeks. Before she could reply, Slughorn hat sat down by her. His eyes brightened immediately when he saw her.

"You're Eve Song's daughter," he said, "You look exactly like her."

Lara Jean warmed at his compliment, "You knew her?" She whispered softly.

"Knew her? Oh! I adored her. She was a brilliant mind, you know. Every magic she tried seemed to come naturally to her, a rare gift. I was alway so curious to see where she'd end up? I hadn't heard much from her. She was dating a Ravenclaw, Eddie Carmichael, last I recall, a fine choice according to her family…" He seemed to be studying Lara Jean's features for perhaps a familiarity to this boy, who Lara Jean picked up on being a pure blood, "Was it happily ever after?"

"Erm, no," Lara Jean coughed, "She uhm, married a muggle." She trailed off.

"Oh! Well, I trust her judgement," Slughorn said merrily, streaking his white fuzz on his chin, "Haven't heard much from her, thought hat would be why."

"She also died when I was young." Lara Jean said, offering a watery smile. Slughorn's whole face fell.

"No! I would have loved to come to the funeral. Oh, that's just dreadful, I'm so sorry. I'm just sorry."

"It's fine. It was a long time ago," Lara Jean said, playing with the edge of her paper, "Some girls, they were saying things, because I'm half-muggle born."

"In my experience, pure-bloods rarely manage to hold up to the expectations of their parents, especially in this day and age. And no doubt she's head or your family's history, specifically your mother! I'd imagine she was terrified, as she should be. I have a feeling you'll do wonderful things, Miss…"

"Lara Jean. Lara Jean Covey."

"Pay no attention to her. You will prove your own worth," Slughorn said standing. Then, with a sly and very Slytherin wink, he added, "and offering no proof she's bothered you will drive her mad, which is some of the best satisfaction. Stay there, just a moment."

Lara Jean waited patiently, no longer nearly as upset as she'd been. It was just a momentary lapse of nerves, she told herself.

Slughorn returned with a picture frame. Almost methodically he unclipped the back, smiling down at it.

"This was in my office, but I imagine it will serve you well. Consider it my warmest welcome to the Slytherin House."

He handed her the picture, and Lara Jean's heart studded and then altogether stopped.

It was her mother, probably around the age of 16 or 17, posing for a group photo; maybe a club? There was the flash of the camera, before the group dissolved into giggles.

And her mother was wearing a Slytherin tie.

She hadn't known, Margot hadn't told her. If her father had been told, he probably didn't remember. She wasn't sure how much of her previous life she'd tried to explain to her dad before she died, but considering her father asked if she was going to 'Hogsmede School' the other day, Lara Jean wasn't sure she trusted his memory of weird names. She didn't know anything about her mother's witch life. It was so bizarre to her that there was a whole side of her mom that it seemed she was the only one who didn't know it. She was determined to collect any whispers of Eve Song here, she decided. Her mother's ghost lingered in the hallways, metaphorically. Lara Jean just had to find the whispers.

She pulled the photo close to her chest.

"Can I keep it?" She whispered her voice just a hair above a murmur.

"I insist you do. Now, to put it on your bedroom wall, the sticking charm is-,"

" _Epoximio_ _,_ " Lara Jean interrupted, holding a smile behind her hand, "I know."

Slughorn fixed his bifocal once again, tilting his head. Then, a genuine smile came across his face.

"Yes, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Slytherin is exactly where you belong."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I am back :) And ready to write some lovely HPxTATBILB goodness!
> 
> A couple little notes;
> 
> 1) Someone, a reviewer, asked is this in the canon verse or otherwise, which is a fair question. So...because I wanted to be able to use events and characters that are canon, it's in the canon!verse...sorta. Just, well, bear with me if I add a few characters in places where they may not have been or create a different family line than what we strictly knew from the books (cough Lara Jean Black cough). The characters from TATBILB will be the main focus, but I would say that others are going to pop up here and there, people that you might recognize! Since TATBILB movie, which I watched, took place in 2018 and LJ was 16, I'm going by that Lara Jean was born in 2002, and so on! Therefore, she's starting Hogwarts in 2013!
> 
> 2) This was just supposed to be a 'short' 9 chapter story, with each chapter being a year. LOL. Since this chapter alone JUST covers basically September 1st, that's not happening. I might try to contain chapters to months, but we'll see. I wont' really know until I finish ch2 and see how much ground I cover from there. Suffice to say, this is probably going to end up being a very long fic!


	3. YEAR 1: Sep-Oct

_Year One: September-October_

Peter is...disappointed. By all means, he should not be. He should be dreaming in his bed right now, ready for a full day of classes and magic tomorrow. He should be writing to his mother, which he knows he'll have to do early tomorrow, because he promised her. He should feel pleased.

But he isn't.

It's not as though his house isn't everything he hoped it would be. He'd always liked Gryffindors, as his parents were a pair, and it had felt natural that he'd follow. The Gryffindors had led the first years back to common room and more or less thrown a party, one where they made sure every newcomer felt like they were coming home. The best selection of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes were passed around, and Peter tried a piece of gum that changed his hair green for a couple hours. He had a whole slew of dangerous yet delicious candy stashed in his trunk.

Greg was in his house. He should be so relieved that his best friend was not apart from him, because he wasn't sure where else Greg would have fit.

But, he's still disappointed.

Lara Jean is in Slytherin.

It's not Slytherin itself he as a problem with. Far from it. His favorite professional Quidditch player is Marcus Flint, a former Slytherin. His mum's best mate was a Slytherin. Heck, a lot of people Peter knows were Slytherins. So, no, it's not the house affiliation specifically that Peter is upset about.

But does she have to be so far away?

It seems ironic, or like a cruel twist of fate, that the Gryffindor Common Rooms are the highest in the castle and Slytherins are the lowest. It's unlikely that outside of classes, they'll randomly cross paths. He'll have to go out of his way to see her.

Not that he's opposed to doing so, it will just make things more difficult. It will make dating her more difficult, he thinks.

He's sort of in a row with Greg right now. They went to bed huffy at each other. Greg had made a dismissive comment about Lara Jean. About her and the Slytherins in general. He had commented that it was a little sad their train compartment group was so flung out around the castle, and Greg had just made a face.

"But are we really upset? That Lovegood kid, she's sorta strange. I had thought the other two were fine, but they're Slytherins now."

Peter sort of gets it. Greg's fathers had fought in the war against evil Slytherins. They'd lost friends to the Death Eaters. They'd sustained massive injuries. Trusting Slytherins wasn't in his parent's nature...but that didn't mean they had to be their parents.

"Well, I still want to hang out with them," Peter had argued back, "And if you don't want to, that's fine, but you might have to find another friend."

He didn't mean it like that, but Greg had gotten angry and closed the curtains around his bed. Peter had tried to talk to him, but he'd said back through the curtains 'maybe you should go talk to one of your other friends, I guess'.

Greg is known for holding grudges. Peter will just talk to him tomorrow.

And, with any luck, he'll find reasons to talk to Lara Jean too.

XXxxXX

Within the first few weeks of school, Lara Jean finds a rhythm. She reads her course books carefully and meaningfully. She does her homework at least two, if not three or four, days before it's due. She tries to have an open mind about every lesson. She examines what it means to be a Slytherin but brushing up on the biographies of great Slytherins, such as Merlin.

But,, more than that, she tries to be the best.

She can tell Slughorn is pleased with her progress. He's always making little comments to her that he doesn't make to the other first years. Mafalda told Lara Jean he likes to 'collect' people of good standing, and to be aware of this. Lara Jean would feel just honored if Slughorn thought her worth enough to 'collect', as he'd done with her mother. In fact, it rather becomes a goal. She will be invited to the ever-so illustrious Slug Club when she's of age to be a Prefect or go to parties.

Gen sticks to Lara Jean's side. She's happy to have at least one steady ally. Cressida Yaxley is obnoxious as ever, but Lara Jean has become very good at just ignoring her. The other two girls in her dorm seem to have no strong opinions for or against Lara Jean, and fade into the background.

Lara Jean is no such girl to become so invisible. She may be quiet, but she's a Slytherin, and she takes this to mean that she will find her place, even if it's a grueling process.

She thinks Gen has similar aspirations. They've chatted after hours in one or the other's bed by the glow of a lit wand about the fame of the Wizarding World. Gen glows when she talks about Malfoy or Nott or McLaggen Galas, and how she's only ever attended one, but will one day be important enough to be first on the guest list to all of them. She raves about rare gemstones and Wizarding heirlooms and treasures abound. Lara Jean doesn't want a Manor or gemstones, she just wants people to say 'Lara Jean was always meant to be a witch'.

Still, Gen gets it. She knows why Lara Jean works so hard. She works hard, too. Not always in classwork, but in her own ambitions. This Lara Jean can at least appreciate.

It's not long into her career at Hogwarts that Lara Jean begins to hear the whispers that follow her, by student and staff alike. It's the comparisons, you see, these are what she thinks about most often.

The first, the one that she is most pleased to hear and the person she's compared to most often; Hermione Granger. They've taken notice about the way that Lara Jean can recite any textbook answer at will, about her hand is always the first one in the air. Someone used the world 'flailing' to describe it, but Lara Jean thinks that's overstating it. She will always raise her hand first, and then wait patiently. Flail? Please.

She likes this. She likes being called the smartest witch of her age, the next brightest since Hermione left. Hermione Granger is a great role model, a respectable, brilliant, and terrifying witch. She was a muggleborn, coming into this world with nothing, and leaving better than almost everyone. It's like Lara Jean, in the way that Lara Jean was more or less a muggle-born as she stepped through these doors.

But, not quite. That leads to the second comparison; Harry Potter. Others argue, that because she had a whole family, a whole legacy just beyond the brick walls of Muggle London, maybe Hermione isn't the best way to describe this new witch. They say that, like Harry, she had strong magic blood running through her veins, just untapped. Not to say her father abused her, as the Dursley did, but maybe that one fits just a smidgen more.

And yet there is a third comparison, one that only a few have whispered among themselves. One Lara Jean was sure she was not supposed to hear, but by accident or by intervention of the fates, she did.

Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Although this name did not bring an association to mind immediately, the information is out there. It's not hidden. It's a name that she, nonetheless, was able to stealthily pick up.

A young magical child, born to a Muggle Father and a witch mother. The mother, cast aside from her magical family, and died young. Raised in the muggle world, always feeling different, but unable to place it. An aptitude for magic beyond what anyone had seen in a very long time. A strong desire to find their place in this magical world. Not even just to find their place, but to confirm and seize their birthright that was never talked about. To make people remember them. To be a great and terrifying wizard.

It's scarily accurate to Lara Jean's life, if one just reads the short of it. She remembers finding it out, piecing it all together, and closing herself in her bed to take in a few great gulps as she collects her thoughts.

Of course, Lara Jean does not hate muggleborns as Lord Voldemort did. Heck, she's fairly sure she's in love with one! She has no ill-will toward them, and feel sick to imagine the atrocities he managed to commit. She also does not seek immortality.

So is it a warning? Do people think that she, Lara Jean, is capable of that? Should she perhaps tone her enthusiasm down a notch, lest more people start discussing this connection?

History repeats itself, this much she knows.

She will do all in her power to not be compared to the likes of Lord Voldemort, but instead to Hermione Granger, she decides. Or, better yet, she will make her own name synonymous for a magically skilled individuals as some of her predecessors have done.

Day by day, her goals become a little clearer. Day by day, she takes a step farther and farther from the muggle world she's all but decided to leave behind.

XXxxXX

Josh is an unflappable companion at Lara Jean's side. The fact that they are in different houses- and Slytherin no less- doesn't even seem to be a thought in his mind. Though, to be honest, Lara Jean sees Slytherins hanging around with Hufflepuffs more so than any other house.

Holly Cottingham, the second year Slytherin who talked to Lara Jean when she was first sorted, has proven to be another friend in her house. She too seems to have a best friend in Hufflepuff, which Lara Jean asked about.

"Well, Gryffindors and us, we're still natural enemies. In jest, in jest!" Holly held up her hands, "It's more of a Quidditch thing, you see? Sure, I have friends in Gryffindor, it's just not best friends. Ravenclaw is fine, they're just always competing with our house academically, and it gets a bit exhausting after awhile. But Hufflepuff? They're a good sort. They don't care what house you're in as long as you're not a jerk. Plus, they are sort of the guardians of the lost. They're good finders, haven't you heard? I think they feel fulfilled giving Slytherins a friend."

Honestly, Lara Jean would have been friends with Josh wherever he ended up. It just seemed to be convenient that he was in Hufflepuff.

He went out of his way to hang out with Lara Jean. During lunch, in which it was encouraged to sit elsewhere than your house table, he always came over to her. He would pre-arrange plans to have Library study-group sessions, even if he was a whole year above her in course-work. Mostly, they'd just sit together, sharing quills and ink pots and sometimes he'd give her a tip on her essays. He was also horrible at grammar, so Lara Jean would proof his essays for minor errors. When they didn't have homework, and since the weather was still nice enough, they'd sit out on the grass together. Josh always had a book on Dragons, and Lara Jean would be writing home to her dad or to Kitty.

"I used to write home to you," Josh had told her with a wry grin, "But now you're here."

Sometimes, others joined in. Gen became a staple to their study sessions and mid-day hang outs. Margot would pop in, much nicer to Lara Jean now that she was at Hogwarts too. Holly, who had shared a couple of classes with Josh, was an intermittent friend, as well as Josh's own other Hufflepuff mates.

Josh went as far to prove his loyalty to Lara Jean that, when the first Quidditch game of the year occurred and it was Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw, Josh borrowed an extra Slytherin scarf Holly had and sat with Lara Jean in the stands, cheering for her dormmates.

Lara Jean had offered to do the same whenever Hufflepuffs weren't playing Slytherin, but Josh waved her away with a shrug.

"You don't have to. Hufflepuffs aren't Quidditch Extraordinaires." Josh scratched his head, "And I know you're not a fan of sports."

This much was true. Lara Jean had to be dragged by Gen just to the first match, and had Josh not asked for a scarf, she probably would have found a reason to wiggle out of it.

"But, how can you not like sports?" Gen asked, aghast.

"Bunch of sweaty people flying around on a stick? I didn't like football or cricket or lacrosse back at home. I doubt Quidditch will prove any more interesting," Lara Jean made a face.

"We're not going for the game, silly," Gen giggled, like it was so funny that Lara Jean thought they'd be going to a Quidditch Match to watch Quidditch, "We're going for the hot Quidditch players. You can't tell me you don't find jocks attractive!"

"I don't find jocks attractive," Lara Jean said flatly.

"If Josh was a Quidditch player, you would," Holly broke in with a wink.

"Well, then come with me then. Be my wing-woman. I have an eye for which players will make it big, and that's who I'll date one day," Gen said matter-o-factly.

"There's not any first or second years on the team, though," Lara Jean said dumbly. The nearest Slytherin to their age was a third year and a beater. He was a fine Quidditch player, if not albeit a bit aggressive, but he sort of looked like a boar who woke up on the wrong side of the bed; Cressida's assessment, not Lara Jean's. She didn't disagree, however.

There was a second-year on the Ravenclaw team, but he was stringy.

Neither of these options seemed like the sort Gen would set her sights on.

"Lara Jean," Gen just blinked up at her, "Did you know that boy's brains mature at a rate sometimes ten years behind a girl's brain? We're smart girls, both of us. It seems silly we would pair ourselves with someone so dreadfully lacking in any category, or worse, have to play babysitter to our boyfriend while we wait for them to grow-up."

"So, basically, what you're saying," Holly broke in dryly, "Is that you like older boys."

"If you want to be specific about it," Gen's smile was devilish.

So, that is how Lara Jean found herself at the first Quidditch game, in which she truly did not want to be at. At least Josh made it bearable at all, otherwise Lara Jean might have faked a stomach bug and left early. Holly was cheering and trash-talking louder than any boy and Gen was sizing up the boys on the team, but it seemed she'd set her sights on a fifth year Ravenclaw that, as she commented, was 'downright dreamy'. Cressida was giggling with the other two Slytherin first years, seemingly just as disinterested in the game as Lara Jean. If Lara Jean was in the habit of trying to make friends with these girls, she might offer this as a point of agreement. She knew somehow Cressida would only twist it, though, so she stayed silent.

"Would you rather," Josh leaned over, noticing her discomfort, "Fight one hippogriff-sized Cornish Pixie, or fight 100 Cornish Pixie sized hippogriffs."

Lara Jean glanced up to him with a grateful grin.

It was this...game they played. They'd made it back when they were young, riding their bikes around their block and to the park nearby. It was something they could pull out at any moment, needing nothing but their imagination and mouths.

It wasn't as though they were the type of friends that needed to fill this silence at all times, in fact, there were hours upon hours where they'd lay in the grass in his backyard or wander around the local grocery store, just silent, just existing.

Still, this was their thing.

They'd stopped it during the the year they were apart. Yes, they could have added it at the end of their letters, and yes, they had been in contact nearly three times a week, but part of the game was doing it face to face. It was hard to explain, Lara Jean decided, why it didn't work via owls. Maybe it was having to answer the moment asked; you couldn't spend hours deliberating pros and cons. Maybe it was seeing their face change. Maybe it was about being real with the answers. Lara Jean didn't know.

In theory, they should have never run out of theoretical to ask each other, but around the time before Josh went off to Hogwarts, there was less things to ask, it seemed. Or, they stopped doing it as much.

Now that they were here, with literally an entire universe to draw from, it would have been strange if they went an entire day without at least one question volleyed between them.

Other people would jump in to answer, if they so choose. Holly found it endearing in a way, and always was curious. She also noted that Gen, although rarely answered, always tilted her head to hear responses, no matter what she was doing.

"One hippogriff sized pixie," Lara Jean said without pause.

"Why?" Josh's eyes were sparkling. It was unnecessary; part of the game was saying why. You couldn't get away with just picking one for the sake of it, or to get out of answering a truly strange or difficult question. There had to be reasons.

When Josh was gone, Lara Jean had tried this with Kitty, but quickly realized that it was a moot point. A lot of the time, Kitty's answers had just been 'because I feel so', which was  _not_  a valid response. When Lara Jean had prodded her for an answer, she had usually become combatant, arguing that she just had a 'feeling' or something like that.

Lara Jean stopped trying to play with Kitty swiftly.

"Because Pixies are more annoying than anything else," Lara Jean said, "And I've read ahead to next year, so I can think of like five charms to incapacitate them."

"What if you didn't have a wand?" Josh countered.

"Still same," Lara Jean only paused a second, "Once again, they're not dangerous, just irritating."

She raised an eyebrow, looking to Josh, "Same," he agreed. They often agreed and it always made her heart feel warm. When they didn't, it was more fun, though, for they would start a heated friendly argument on their points, "For similar reasons."

"I say the hippogriffs! I can just stomp them." Holly shrugged.

"Have you ever tried to stomp a pixie? They're impossibly fast. Imagine now that they're hippogriffs. Like bats from hell." Josh pointed out.

Holly smirked, "Maybbe I'd just find a cricket bat, then. Practice my form."

"Gen?" Lara Jean nudged, seeing she was obviously listening.

"I think it's stupid," Cressida's voice broke the conversation, "Because there isn't a scenario in history where you'd have to fight either of those." She was turning her nose up at them, so far up that Lara Jean wondered if she could could even see them. She looked really silly like that.

"I think you misunderstand the point of the game," Josh said, still with a smile. Cressida had never bothered him. In fact, he always went more out of his way to be friendly to her. Aggressively friendly, if there was anything aggressive about Josh.

She sniffed, "Games are for children."

"You are a child," A third-year above them snapped, "Great Salazar…"

"It's not supposed to be a realistic situation," Josh continued, "What makes it fun is that you probably have never come across it. Makes you think creatively."

"It's a lot like dueling," Holly tapped her chin, "Though not all of them are fighting something. Lots are though. Adapt and respond and all."

"I still think that it's terribly rude that you're chatting there instead of watching the game," Cressida finally finished, turning away from them.

"Oh yes," Lara Jean couldn't help but mutter, "Because it's not like you three haven't been talking about the newest article from  _Witch Weekly_  that Cedric Diggory gave."

The third-year snorted behind his hand. Holly grinned at Lara Jean. Gen gave a hint of a smile. Josh's eyebrows knit, but she saw go to stand between Lara Jean and Cressida, to protect Lara Jean if Cressida chose to throw a curse or to stop Lara Jean from doing something stupid, she wasn't sure.

Lara Jean inhaled hard, holding back her frustrations.

"It's fine, Josh. It's fine," She assured after a moment, "She doesn't have to like the game. I'm fine," She insisted.

Josh backed down, just a little, but Lara Jean didn't miss the darkened look he sent toward Cressida, probably the rudest look he'd ever mustered.

"Ohh! Look, there goes my future boyfriend," Gen said, grabbing Lara Jean's arm excitedly, jumping up and down a bit.

"I don't know a ton about sports," Lara Jean said, patting her hand, "But I think you're supposed to cheer for our team."

"I can cheer for Slytherin and for Roland Davis at the same time," Gen insisted firmly, "I'm pretty sure his mom was from Beauxbatons. Do you think he knows French? I bet he knows French.  _Oh la la_." She fanned herself.

"What about you, Lara?" Holly asked, nudging her arm, "You calling any dibs on Quidditch players?"

"Are you?"

"With any luck I'll be one next year, once our chasers graduate. Then I'll have a better chance than either of you to bag one. But, you still didn't answer the question."

Lara Jean tried to look interested in the players whizzing around. She also made a very good effort not to look at Josh.

"I don't think so," She said, shrugging, "Frankly, I'm not here to find a boyfriend. I'm here to focus on my studies."

Gen made a noise deep in the back of her throat, "Laaaame."

XXxxXX

"Why are we even here? This isn't our house?" Greg asked, flipping with the tassels on the borrowed Ravenclaw house scarf with a pout, "We don't even like 'em half the time."

"Because," Peter enunciated, smiling apologetically at some of his Ravenclaw friends for Greg's comment, "We're studying up."

Greg shrugged, "Least we're not wearing Slytherin colors," He said.

Peter just bit his tongue.

"Look, you can go. I don't need you here," Peter said, though was a tinge disappointed. He'd thought that Greg was as excited about Quidditch as he was. Apparently, only when his team was playing.

Peter, though, was going to attend every game. He was going to study the players and the teams and the best moves, so that when he made it onto the Gryffindor team, he'd already know who he was up against. It was smart to study your opponent.

Plus, Peter just enjoyed Quidditch.

"No, I'll stay," Greg sighed, "But I'm hungry for Fire-Popped Kernels."

It took Peter a second.

"You want me to get them for you, don't you?" He asked dryly.

"Well," Greg said innocently, "Since you did drag me all the way out to a game that we're not even in, I mean, it would be the nice thing to do."

Peter huffed, counting his spare change.

He turned to his friend in Ravenclaw, Molly Weasley II- know exclusively as Molls, "You'll tell me all the moves, right?" He asked, knowing that Greg wouldn't be nearly as invested.

She gave a grin, nodding.

Peter shuffled through the stands, all the way to underneath, where a food truck with game snacks had been added in about four or five years ago, one of the best ideas from the new bath of Hogwarts professors.

He counted out the sickles in his palm, glancing up at the line.

He nearly choked when he realized Lara Jean was standing in front of him.

He really hadn't gotten any chances to talk with her, not since school started. They shared a couple classes, but he knew it would be weird to go out of his way. Still…

"Lara Jean," He couldn't help but say, causing her to jump, "You're here! I mean, well, duh you're here, you're a Slytherin and it's the Slytherin game and-,"

"Actually, I'm not really into sports," She interrupted him apologetically, "Which is why I'm getting food."

"Oh." Peter felt his heart deflate a little bit. Then, he shook it away. Maybe she just needed the proper player to cheer for. He imagined himself, in the future, with Lara Jean secretly wearing Gryffindor colors under her robes, blushing as he rode by. He'd give her a rose when he won the Quidditch House Cup, tell everyone exactly how he felt about her. He'd let her wear his jersey. He'd-

"Gen likes looking at the players and Holly's really into it," Lara Jean said, as though his silence had prompted her to give an answer.

"Are you...enjoying yourself?"

"I guess," Lara Jean tried to put on a smile, Peter could tell, "How's Gryffindor?"

"Everything I hoped," Peter said honestly, "Slytherin?"

"I can't complain," Lara Jean said, but from the stiffness of her shoulders, there was something else. Something off.

"Well-,"

Whatever Peter was going to say, and frankly he hadn't been sure himself, was cut off by a girl rudely pushing past him.

She tried to move past Lara Jean, but to Lara Jean's credit, she stood firm, her face immediately morphing into a frown. It was a first year, she was tiny. Maybe had it been an older student, Lara Jean would have let them move past. As it was, she seemed particularly obstinate about this person.

"There's a line, Cressida," She said. Lara Jean's tone was one of holding back annoyance, and something deeper.

Peter caught a flash of green and silver.

"Lara Jean, associating with Hufflepuffs is one thing. But Gryffindors?" Cressida looked Peter up and down like he was homeless and naked or something. Her entire demeanor was turned away from him.

"What's it to you?" Lara Jean sounded eerily calm. It was a tone Peter hadn't heard on her. Frankly, it was sort of terrifying.

"Just wanted to tell you that there are still rules to who you should and shouldn't associate with." Cressida said, trying to cut again.

"Yeah, well, Peter's my friend, so,"

Peter beamed. He sent Lara Jean a bright look. She considered them friends? This was brilliant!

"Sometimes I wonder about her," Cressida said in a stage-whisper to her companion, "If she's really supposed to be a Slytherin."

"Lara Jean is absolutely meant to be a Slytherin! Don't you know who her family is?" He asked, feeling a rush of anger.

"Peter," Lara Jean sighed.

"The Blacks? Of course I do," Cressida said, "I'm a pureblood. Do you know what that means?"

"That means you're inbred, right?" Peter said with faux-confusion. Cressida fumed for a second, turning so red it looked like she was going to explode. Lara Jean's face was shocked for a second, but he saw it dissolve into amusement out of the corner of his eye.

"Come on Lis, I'm not hungry anymore," Cressida finally said, violently tugging her friend away. Lis whined, but Cressida was all but running away, shaking hard.

"Peter, that was mean!" Lara Jean said, trying to vanish all forms of laughter from her face. Peter could tell she was trying very hard to look disappointed in him, to send him a frown, to be above that. Peter, however, had no such qualms. No one hurt his friends, especially not Lara Jean.

"You're right, m'sorry," He said, but didn't really mean it.

Lara Jean was just looking after her. She paused for a second, "I suppose," She began slowly, "It's not necessarily mean to say something that's true."

Peter burst out laughing.

Lara Jean's smile, albeit a tiny one, felt like sun.

XXxxXX

The warm days bled into cooler days, and all too soon there was a nip in the air that Lara Jean could not ignore. She bundled up warmer in her scarf and began pulling on her woolen socks during the day. She wore her nicest cape, the one that was thick and had really expensive-looking clasps, and for her later-night classes wore the pair of fur-lined mittens that Margot got her for Christmas last year. It was the softest thing she'd ever touched.

The days of being able to lounge on the grass with Josh were gone, as now it left her nose red and sinus clogged if she tried, which lead to them attempting to find a place within the castle to hang, apart from the library.

So far, nothing good. They were considering finding one of the abandoned classrooms, but it just wasn't the same as laying out their summer cloaks and bookbags and soaking up the sun next to the Black Lake.

Either way, as the school year really took off, Lara Jean found herself increasingly busy. This left little time to hang out with Josh anyway.

Lara Jean flew above the average in all of her classes. Or, nearly all. Ironically, the only class she didn't 'fly above' in was the one class in which 'flying' was the very subject.

Introduction to Brooms and Flying was a nightmare if Lara Jean ever saw one.

It was like her old P.E. classes, she considered. Not to far off. Both took exercise and a great deal of hand-eye coordination, something that Lara Jean was miserable at on both accounts.

There were the kids that were really good at it, granted, and most of the class was okay. A lot hadn't tried to ride a broom before, but at least had seen someone attempt it. Or, they were just more gifted.

It wasn't even that Lara Jean was in that middling group, to which she may have been able to stomach.

No, Lara Jean was utterly and undeniably  _failing_  Flying. And, as someone who got upset when she received an E or an O without any warming comments from her professors, this was unacceptable.

She dreaded this class with a sort of anxiety that she hadn't felt since she was near failing German in her childhood. At least, with German, there were steps she could take outside of class to boost her score, words she could practice, sentence she could repeat over and over until it was perfect.

Flying? Well, considering she only got to hold a broom during class, it left her rather stuck in this rut of not being competent again, and again, and again.

Even Gen, who disliked flying on the whole, could hover for more than two pathetic seconds. And while Gen may have matched her scholarly skills on many a classes, it didn't mean she was fit to be teaching anyone. Her 'helpful hints' were anything but, although not out of malice. Gen just wasn't fit to be a teacher.

"You just, feel it, and like, know that you can," Gen had tried to explain to her many times, which was about as helpful as telling someone to just 'cheer up' when they were sad.

"I'll, uh, try that," Lara Jean had sighed, but found it even more difficult to follow than just fumbling around before.

By late October, the class- on the average- was supposed to be able to kick off the ground, reach a height of at least one story, and hover for no less than five minutes.

Lara Jean was lucky if she didn't fall back to the ground after five seconds, at a height of maybe about as far as she could naturally jump.

She sat on the grass, kicking at her broom half-heartedly.

"Miss Covey?"

"Yes?" Lara Jean said in a tired voice, looking up to her instructor, Professor Applebee.

"Still no luck?" Her voice was sympathetic. Lara Jean had been told that she'd taken over for Madam Hooch two years ago, and that she was lucky. Hooch would have been more prone to give her a tough love approach, which Lara Jean didn't need, not when she already knew how dismal her flying was.

"I'm worried about your progress, Miss Covey," Applebee stated, her face pulling into a frown, "And I've gone ahead and talked to Headmistress McGonagall and we've agreed that perhaps a tutor would be best."

"Oh," Lara Jean felt her cheeks flush, "Uhm, thanks."

"And it's fortuitous that someone offered right away. While it's unusual to have a first year teaching another first year, he's at the top of the class for flight, so you shouldn't feel like you're not getting a competent teacher." She continued, "And, we've procured brooms for you to use outside of class, when you two find an agreed-upon time."

"Great," Lara Jean said, forcing a smile.

This is what she needed, right? Practice outside of class. It didn't mean she was thrilled about it. She hadn't enjoyed laboring over German pronunciations, but she'd done it. It was a similar feeling here.

Professor Applebee turned, motioning for someone to come forward.

"Miss Covey, meet-,"

"Peter." Lara Jean couldn't help but blurt, "We, we know each other." We keep meeting, she thought internally. It seemed every time she turned around, Peter was there. Not in a bad way, but in a way that she didn't think would happen as much, since he was a Gryffindor after all.

"Friends, actually," Peter added with a smile that was a little bit infectious. Yes, she had called him friends, hadn't she? It wasn't necessarily wrong, but it still pleased her to have him reiterate it.

"Oh! Well, even better. I thought I was going to have to go through the usual speech. House unity, Slytherins and Gryffindors can still get along despite house rivalries, it's not healthy to prematurely hate someone, and all that such." She waved a hand.

"No need of that for us," Peter puffed out his chest, "We're above that," He assured, winking at Lara Jean.

"Wonderful!" Professor Applebee clapped her hands, "The rest of the class you two figure out your plan of action. Headmistress and I agree that one or two extra periods per week should suffice, or at least, that's what we'll start with. Once you two have agreed upon a day of the week and hour, come to me. I'll meet you at the start of the class; or a Prefect, to hand you brooms from the store cupboard. We'll collect them afterward."

She placed a hand on both of the first year's shoulders, smiling down at them,

"We'll have you caught up in no time, Miss Covey," She said with more confidence than Lara Jean had, "You're in good hands."

Lara Jean offered a hesitant smile to Peter.

Professor Applebee was about to say more, until over their shoulders, spied a Gryffindor clearly doing something wrong, for she hustled away shouting, "Mis _ter_  Pratt! The broom should never be held like that, you're going to end up impaling someone, and let me tell you-,"

Peter laughed, looking back at his dorm mate, shaking his head.

Lara Jean didn't find it quite a funny, moreso, she thought that Lucian was acting like a child. Either way, though, she was just staring down at her class-assigned broom with a sense of dread.

"Hey, hey," Peter said, turning back and catching her look, "By the time we're through, you'd be fit to play on the Slytherin team!"

Lara Jean did not share his optimism. She was about to snark something back, as was her instinct of late, but something about his bright look in his eyes stopped her.

Instead, she found herself smiling back.

"Well Peter, I'm ready to be wowed by your teaching skills."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AWWW THEY"RE SO CUTE!
> 
> So, some notes to read through:
> 
> 1) This story will update about every once a month. So, around the 12th of each month, I'd start looking for a new chapter, give or take!
> 
> 2)As I was listing out the kids of the Next Gen and what years they'd be there, and I realized I really hate a lot of the canon endgame couples, I was like...this is already an alt universe? Why am I sticking to canon? Especially when I can create this my own? Plus, to have a near COMPLETELY alt universe would help explain the whole Lara Jean as a Black better. SOOOOOOOOOO the next gen will be made up of couples of my own chosing that I prefer, and it more closely mirrors the Green Games 'verse (except for like that Harry, Ron, Seamus, and ect survived) but a lot of the 'endgame' couples there will be the couples here, so I can create the OC kids from that 'verse that I already pre-thought of. Not terribly important, but just so there's less confusion when a Rosie Malfoy appears ;)
> 
> 3) To see cool art for this story, go over to my tumblr, youngbloodlex22!
> 
> 4) My bf and I always play that 'would you rather' game. So, what would you rather fight? Tell me why in a review!


	4. Year 1; NOVEMBER

* * *

YR 1, NOVEMBER

People are beginning to take real notice of Lara Jean. It makes her feel good. It's not just the students in her own house marking her Slytherin abilities, or Slughorn getting a wide honest grin on his face whenever she has had a good day in class and it makes its way back to him, but others for sure are starting to see her.

Most are really nice. It's only a handful of students who are mean toward her, though most just lock their jaws and turn up their noses. It's a small handful of those that openly dislike her. Basically one; Cressida.

But Lara Jean doesn't care. She has more than one good friend- she has Josh and Margot and Gen- so she's contented.

First week of November brings forth the first mid-year testing period. Lara Jean, Gen, and Lucas sit themselves down at the same table they always have chosen (a little in the back, to the left, the one that has 'I Love The Vrasta Vultures' scrawled into the wood) and get to work. They take turns lugging books over to the table; no one has figured out the weightlessness charm to perfection quite yet, and share ink pots and quills. Gen sneaks in snacks. Usually, Lara Jean would be horrified about rule-breaking, but they are pulling long hours and it's mostly candy bars anyway. Lara Jean is careful never to smudge the pages with her chocolate-coated finger tips, always licking off the remainder.

By the second week of November, they get their exams and papers back.

Lara Jean did just as she expected; all O's. She'd be extremely miffed if she hadn't; she'd missed a lot of hours of sleep or relaxation double and triple-checking those parchments, smearing out phrases and hatching in better ones, mumbling spells and connections under her breath.

Gen gets mostly O's, a smattering of E's. Lucas gets mostly E's. They are both equally pleased with their results.

The is one returned paper, however, that stops Lara Jean.

It wasn't the grade, it was the note attached to it.

Binns is still kicking; that's what Lara Jean had heard someone say once. She knows that Binns has been around for a very, very long time. His class isn't the most exciting, granted, and it's a lot of note taking and dates, but Lara Jean is pleased to learn anything wizaring related. She'd written her paper on the conflict between Wizards and Muggles, specifically quoting the ages in which the Wizarding world had moved everything underground. She thinks it's a really good paper. But, Binns hardly ever seems to take note of individual students writing, at least, not as quick as he is to take points off for getting a year off by a decade or so or the misspelling of an ancient warlock's name. He knows it all shockingly well. Lara Jean can't be frustrated about that. She hopes one day she's knowledgeable about something to be so irritatingly haughty about it.

She expects the usual on her returned paper, just the grade, and not much else. There's a note at the top.

Lara Jean, hungry for validation, hunches over her desk and reads the words with fevered excitement.

' _Eve! As usual, a fantastic paper; I quite enjoyed how you utilized the source material from the Muggle's point of view, that was quite unexpected but bolstered your argument well. Outstanding!'_

Lara Jean blinked, lurching back. She brought the paper close to her face, trying to remind herself to breathe.

She shouldn't be so surprised. 76% of the time (and yes, Lara Jean had calculated) when he called on someone in the classroom, he accidentally called them by their parent's or grandparent's or even great-grandparent's names. He only actually remembered individual students' names about 5% of the time. The other percentage in between, he didn't call them anything at all, but at least 8% of those students were first-year muggleborns. So.

But that didn't really answer it, since Lara Jean had at least gleaned that it wasn't so much that he mistook students for their predecessors as much as he just picked a name he remembered. That, perhaps, it was easy to recall the name of  _a_  Malfoy than the specific Malfoy, or something. There'd been a whole thing when he'd called Dominique Weasley 'Molly' in class two weeks ago and she'd tried to correct him and he'd more or less showed that he at least understood that Molly was her grandmother, not her.

But this...it seemed like he had mistaken Lara Jean for her mother.

She walked out of the class in a trance. The actual words themselves were laudations. She'd been singled out enough to gain actual praise in words from Binns. She should be pleased; even if he thought she was Eve, it was still her words. The ghost of her dead mother hadn't appeared and written this for her.

But still…

'As usual, fantastic paper'. She knew her mother was scholarly and a good student, but she felt connected with her mother in that very instant. She held the parchment to her chest, closing her eyes and exhaling out slowly.

She walked all the way to class with that paper held in her hand. And the next, and the next.

After Transfiguration, where she'd managed to successfully turn a box of thumbtacks into a jar of marbles, the paper slipped through her fingers as she was stacking her books.

Headmistress McGonagall, who insisted upon still teaching a class and was to terrifying for anyone to tell her 'no', picked up the sheet.

Lara Jean wanted to explain why she'd been hoarding a stupid marked paper like it was gold, why she looked so frantic, explain so she didn't seem totally mad, but McGonagall just sighed.

"I have this discussion with Binns every year...though it's a lot for him to remember names in his old age."

"Do ghost really age, though?" Lara Jean asked, ever inquisitive.

McGonagall gingerly handed back the parchment, "No, dear, I suppose they don't."

"I just-I don't know a lot about my mom," Lara Jean said quickly, though nothing had prompted her to explain. She felt like she must, however, "So maybe I don't mind him thinking that I'm her, especially if it's because of our schoolwork."

"I'm sure that's part of it. Her drive for school was always nothing short of exceptional," McGonagall agreed, gazing fondly at her, "You are, Miss Covey a clone for her."

Lara Jean frowned; she'd always associated Margot to look the most like her mother, Kitty the least. Lara Jean saw herself somewhere between the two.

"But, Margot-,"

"Your sister looks of her, there's no denying, but it would be impossible for anyone who taught or knew your mother to not see her when they look you."

Lara Jean is very quiet.

"I'm surprised your father hadn't mentioned the resemblance to you ever," McGonagall continued, patting her shoulder in a motherly sort of way

"My dad doesn't talk much about my mom. At least, not to me," Lara Jean mumbled. Then, with what McGonagall had just said, understanding blazed through Lara Jean. She clenched the paper, inhaling sharply. How awful must it be for her father to look at her and always see her deceased mother?

McGonagall seemed to have come to the same conclusion, for she got very quiet.

"You are allowed to be your own person, Miss Covey."

"I know," Lara Jean said, her voice shaking. What she didn't add was that she almost wasn't sure if that's what she wanted.

Back in her dorm room, she tacked up the note, right by Slughorn's photo. Cressida saw her hanging it, but for once, said nothing of it. She knew for a fact that Cressida had a letter from one of her older brothers tacked up with Spellotape over her bed, so she'd be a darn hypocrite if she told off Lara Jean for it.

Or maybe, she considered, dead mothers were just a topic that even bullies didn't want to touch.

XXxxXX

The first snow came mid-November. Lara Jean woke up colder than usual. She digs all the way to the bottom of her trunk for the really nice pair of fuzzy socks that her dad got her last year for Christmas. They're a little ridiculous; bright pink with yellow polka-dots, but they are some of the most comfortable things Lara Jean has ever put on her feet.

She doesn't see that it's snowing until she's upstairs, and then she pauses at the hallways, watching the snow fall upon the green grass. It might stay, Holly comments, tugging her to breakfast, the first snow always vanishes as quickly as it comes.

"Ooh, warm pumpkin juice!" Holly says, sitting down and plucking the jug right from the fingers of a fellow Slytherin boy.

"Hey, I was pouring that!" He squawks. Holly literally moves her legs to the other side of the bench, contorting her body around so the jug is halfway out into the passing aisle, so that he cannot possibly grab it back, "And now you're not." She smirks.

Lara Jean giggles behind her hand, accepting a glass of it when Holly hands it to her. She isn't a huge fan, prefers hot chocolate, but her dormmate's face is too good.

There's loud laughter from the Gryffindor table. Lara Jean turns around to see Peter and Greg and a whole other host of boys have tied their scarves together and have gotten stuck as a conjoined group. From the laughter from the other Gryffindors, it seems that someone had the grand idea to charm them to stick together, and now no one knows the counter-charm.

"This is why we don't use random charms we find in random books!" A Gryffindor prefect is saying, rubbing her eyes tiredly, trying to get the group to sit still for even a second so she can try to unspell them. It's really hilarious. They are all stuck shoulder to shoulder; every time that Greg moves to try to grab the sausages, the whole group nearly tumbles forward onto the table in front of them, before the snap Greg back, which causes the end Gryffindor to fall onto the floor.

Like a train, the other three come tumbling down with him.

"I don't know what they thought they were going to accomplish," Cressida says, turning up her nose, "Idiots."

For once, Lara Jean almost agrees with her. She finds it a little endearing, a little ridiculous, however, and presses her lips together to keep from bursting out laughing.

"It would be a good joke if they'd done it to someone else," Holly considers, sipping her mug, "As it is, I don't know if I expected Gryffindors to have the forethought to not practice on themselves."

"McGonagall looks so exhausted," Mafalda says sympathetically. She does look exhausted; stumbling all over the floor has caught the attention of several teachers now.

"First the Marauders, then Harry and his group, now them…" Someone down the line murmurs, "Gryffindor's cursed with troublemaking jokesters."

"You forgot Fred and George!" Holly points out, "But, I have to hand it to them. Their stuff is genius."

McGonagall is calling over Flitwick. This charm is harder to untangle than they thought.

"Maybe you should give us points," Lara Jean hears Peter tease, "For such a good charm?"

"I will be surely taking  _off_ points," McGonagall corrects, "Mr. Kavinsky. Why do I have the feeling that you are the ringleader of this?"

Peter gives a humble shrug, but Lara Jean knows it was him. Maybe he didn't cast the spell, but it was his idea. She thinks maybe it was Lucian. He's halfway handy with charms, more so than Peter. Lucian Pratt doesn't seem embarrassed by the inability to uncharm himself, but over the moon that it worked in the first place.

"What is going on over there?"

Lara Jean turns to see Gen flopping down.

"You were up early today," Lara Jean says. By the time that Lara Jean had been heading out, she was already gone.

"Helping with some plants. The frost kills a lot, you know, and we had to move some in."  
Gen's been spending a lot of time with Professor Longbottom in herbology. She's quite good at it. Lara Jean doesn't really have a green thumb, but still enjoys the lessons, especially because Gen is quick to help her turn a browning plant green again.

"I wouldn't complain spending some time with Professor Longbottom," Holly purs, and Gen's face flushes bright red.

"I'm not...he's...I just-,"

"Most students have a crush on him, Holly's just teasing you," The pumpkin juice-less boy said, rolling his eyes, "Merlin above, I don't get it. He's a Gryffindor."

"Was. Now he's a teacher with very nice muscles." Holly corrects.

"He's also married. To Ginny Weasley. They have kids."

"We can look!" Holly shoots back.

"Hey, Lara Jean," Gen nudges Lara Jean's arm, "The first snow does make a special herb bloom that is used in high-level potions. Professor Longbottom is taking a group out tonight to harvest it. I signed up. Might be cool if you came too."

Lara Jean likes others thinking of her, so she says yes.

XXxxXX

They meet at the gates of Hogwarts just as dusk is settling over the castle. There is Gen, Lara Jean, and four other students that range from all ages and houses. They're all wrapped nice and warm in their thickest robes and Lara Jean has tied her scarf up over her face tightly, enough so that when she breathes out, her breath moistens her cheeks and nose. But, blessedly, she is warm.

Professor Longbottom is sporting a worn looking Gryffindor house scarf, with more than a couple holes and a lot of patches. Lara Jean is drawn to the holes, and she wonders if he got them during the years that Hogwarts was under siege by the Carrows, or the battle, or if he's just prone to poking holes in his scarf. Certainly, a war hero like him could afford a new one, so it must be sentimental.

While Lara Jean looks at Professor Longbottom and muses upon a battle that occured years before she was born, even before Margot was born, Gen looks at their teacher with a blush on her cheeks. She hangs on his every word.

He explains to the group about what they'll be doing, and he's going around making sure that everyone can hold a  _lumos_ on their wand tips. They won't be going into the Forbidden Forest, but they will be skirting the edges, and it's better safe than sorry.

"So it it is dangerous, sir?" Gen pips up.

"Not as much as it used to be," Professor Longbottom gives a wry smile, perhaps a memory, "But it's still no place for first-years. Not even third years, at that. Preferably, only teachers." He adds after a second.

"You fought in a war at age 15," A Hufflepuff murmurs, eyebrows knitting, "And you think that seventeen year-olds shouldn't go into the forest?"

Professor Longbottom looks at him tiredly.

"We were all far too young, Harry more so than anyone else. Just because we did doesn't mean it was right. I wouldn't ask anyone to do what I did." The tone he holds tells the students he is done talking about it.

Lara Jean is glad. She doesn't want to imagine herself in a war.

"Professor, sorry I'm late," A voice breaks the silence. Lara Jean turns to see Peter scrambling to the gates, throwing his scarf- now untangled- over his shoulder.

"Not a huge deal, we've just started going through the instructions, Peter," Professor Longbottom says, checking off his name on a piece of parchment.

"You're coming on the trip?" Lara Jean asks, raising an eyebrow. Gen sends Peter a fleeting look, but is distracted easily by Professor Longbottom.

"Uhm, yeah. Well, it's my punishment, you see. For today." Peter says quickly. Professor Longbottom pauses, raising an eyebrow at Peter, smirks, but doesn't say anything. Lara Jean thinks maybe he's glad it was Peter assigned to him, instead of Lucian or Greg or Derry. At least Peter will do what's asked of him, and he'll do it respectfully.

"I'm here because Gen asked if I wanted to come. Plus, it seemed like something new. Exciting, I guess," Lara Jean says. Now that the first rounds of examinations are over, the most she'd be doing tonight is taking notes on Defense Against the Dark Arts, and probably reading a book for pleasure from the library. This seems much more active.

"You're really good at Herbology, right?" Peter asks, scratching his head as he looks at Gen.

"You could say that," She sniffs, her whole body guarded. It is of her Slytherin nature to not get too buddy-buddy with others, at least, not Gryffindors. She seems to enjoy the company of Josh and Margot fine. Lara Jean is pretty sure she doesn't hate Gryffindors, probably just finds them more trouble than their worth.

"You really knew how to handle those mandrakes!" As it is in Gen's nature to be stoic, it is in Peter's to make friends. He tries, Merlin, he tries. He wouldn't offer anyone a frown, Lara Jean is sure. Plus, he holds onto things, he's sentimental. He probably recalls their quasi-friendship from the train. Lara Jean isn't going to go out of her way to talk to Chris or Greg, but she's decided that Peter is just fine.

"They're not  _that_  hard," Gen huffs, and the message seems to be clear. Peter's smile falters as they follow behind Professor Longbottom is an untidy group, only for a second, before he gives a little nod. A nod that shows he understands.

"You don't have to be so mean," Lara Jean hisses.

"He's just a dumb Gryffindor," Gen says, "Super annoying. I don't get why you're so nice to him," Gen pulls a face.

It is not for the first time that Lara Jean considers how fortuitous it is that Gen decided they were friends early on. Gen can be as cunning and horrible as Cressida, but Lara Jean just happens to be on the other side of her personality. The one that is a loyal friend, the one who cares for Lara Jean. Still, perhaps it is a good reminder how Genevieve can appear to others.

"He's my tutor, 'member?" Lara Jean mumbles. Not for dislike of Peter, for dislike of the subject.

"Ah," Gen still grimaces. She seems to have given Lara Jean a pass, although just barely. Gen has been pulling away from prolonged conversations with other houses, except those that Lara Jean brings to the group, she realizes. Maybe she thinks enough of Lara Jean to trust any non-Gryffindor in the fold. Maybe Lara Jean is thinking far too much about this.

They arrive at the area in weeds where they're supposed to find this plant. It needs to be plucked and prepared in jars carefully. If they do it wrong, it's practically useless. And, since this herb was used in a whole host of medical potions, there is a urgency to doing this right. Plus, for every successful jar they bring to Professor Longbottom, their house gets ten house points.

Lara Jean puts her wand between her teeth as she slips off her fingers to grab the knife- sharp enough to slice leaves but dull enough to be fairly safe for children to use- and to unscrew her jar, settling both in the frosted grass beneath her.

Gen is totally in the zone. She found her patch of plant and has not said a word to Lara Jean at all, already nimbly cleaning the leaves with a precision that Lara Jean wishes she had. Where Gen will likely bring Professor Longbottom three jars, Lara Jean hopes to fill one.

Still, she is helping her house and learning something in the process.

When she cleans her patch, she thinks about going over to Gen, but knows her friend would only be irritated by the distraction. So, instead, she finds a new patch near Peter.

His fingers are large enough already to make this difficult work with the small pocket knife. He has even less done than Lara Jean, but only because he is truly trying to do a good job, even at the expense of less filled.

"I'm sorry about Gen," Lara Jean says quietly, a little above a whisper. People are talking, but not loudly.

"It's not really a good apology, because I know she doesn't mean it. You can't really apologize for others."

Peter has his moments, Lara Jean thinks, moments where he seems wise.

"I guess not. I still want to."

Lara Jean wipes leaf-juice onto her robes, cleaning the knife with a little rag next as she unscrews the cap again.

"Thanks," Peter whispered to her, "It makes it all better when you apologize."

Lara Jean scoffed, rolling her eyes. She can't detect sarcasm in his voice, but she knows it's obviously there. Peter responds with an even wider smile.

"What are the other boys doing?"

"Huh?"  
"You know, for their detentions," Lara Jean asks.

Peter rubs his chin, "Not sure," He responds after a long moment.

"What were you hoping to do?" Lara Jean asked with a sigh.

"The spell went a little weird, that's true," Peter dragged his knees under him, sticking his wand into the mud like a pole, illuminating the area where he's working. Lara Jean, realizing it's a better place than her lips, does the same, "Lucian wasn't supposed to cast it while it was on our necks, either."

"What was the intention?" Lara Jean has been rolling the event in her head most of the day. She is really not sure what they were trying to do.

"We were trying to make one giant scarf."

"Well," Lara Jean starts dryly, "You succeeded."

"No, not like long," Peter extends his arms out the full span, "Giant." He repeats. It's only when Lara Jean sees his hands have moved to show space from his chest outward, and it's a little hard to see in the darkness of the night, she understands.

"Like...a blanket of scarves?" She asks unsure.

"Exactly!" Peter snaps his fingers.

"Why?"

Peter tilts his head. When he leans into the light to carefully carve off the stem of the plant, Lara Jean can see his lips are pursed. She thinks maybe she's offended him. It's only when he makes a noise in the back of his throat that she realizes he's thinking.

"You don't have an answer?"

"Uhm, not really?"

"So you don't know why you did it?"

"For fun? Science? The fate of the universe?" He offers up, face sheepish.

Lara Jean has a feeling that he vary rarely has reasons behind doing things. But, this isn't a Peter Kavinsky thing, this is just a guy thing. On more than one occasion she's caught Josh doing something so utterly stupid it baffles her, only to get a shrug. Like the time he lit a bottle rocket and didn't run, and he was lucky it only blew off his left eyebrow. Or when he ate cheese that was almost 'not moldy', and got sick for three weeks after that. Yes, it was just a boy thing, but still something Lara Jean would never understand.

"We're going to try again," Peter informed Lara Jean.

"After getting scolded by Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Longbottom?" Lara Jean sputtered.

"Well, yeah. Now we know how to do it better," Peter says, "Say, hey, you wouldn't be interested in letting us borrow your house scarf, would you?"

Lara Jean grasps her scarf protectively, "No."

"C'mon, Covey! It would look so cool to have that green right in the middle of the reds. Christmasy. It's nearly Christmas time, you know."

"I'm aware of the date!" Lara Jean said.

"Then-,"

"No, no. 'Borrow'. I'm not sure I'd ever get it back, considering you all had no idea how to undo the spell today," Lara Jean snaps, more in frustration than anger.

"Well, we'd figure it out eventually," Peter says, "I mean, think about it!"

"About what?" Lara Jean sighs.

"A huge scarf."

"I am. I don't get it."

Peter sat back on his haunches, fingers pressed in front his face in a chapel-structure.

"Okay, so last week, Derry got house points taken off because his buttons were not entirely in the right holes on his white shirt. He argued it, saying he didn't know it was a rule and that this seemed silly."

"Yeah?"

"So Professor Longbottom gave Derry a copy of the rules of uniform for Hogwarts. And Derry read it."

"And?"

Peter paused to shave off the bad part of the plant, "Oh, Derry was entirely in the wrong. Points reasonably taken off. But, Derry- not wanting to make that mistake again- read through the whole thing. And we found little of note about scarves. Basically, just that house scarves had to be house colors- like you can't just wear a bright pink one around- but you can wear them anywhere in the castle as long as they're house colors. Not much else. Theoretically, I could just wear your house scarf around, and there's no rule prohibiting that."

"So why didn't you just do that?"

"We thought about it sure," Peter scoffed, waving a hand, "But then we realized that it also never specified a size or length of a scarf, you know? So, we all came to the conclusion that if we made a scarf of our house scarfs that was just freaking huge, and we wore it around the castle like a Snuggie, technically, there was nothing saying we couldn't!"

Lara Jean narrowed her eyes at him. Even if that thought had crossed her mind, and likely it wouldn't have, she wasn't sure she'd ever think to actually try it.

"I mean, just think how funny that would be."

"I guess," Lara Jean admitted after a second.

"So you'll give me your scarf?"

Lara Jean laughed out loud, "No way, Kavinsky, no way."

They went back to canning, but halfway through the night, Lara Jean caught Peter trying to knick her scarf. She knotted it around her body defiantly.

Peter was grinning, "I'll get that scarf yet," He announced.

Lara Jean held back a smile. He for sure was  _not_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed that!
> 
> So, I'm getting a little tired of just bringing in a character doing something weird and then referring to that the rest of the time they're in the scene, so it would be super helpful to get some OCs, just to fill the space, you know? So, if you want to give me one, just review and give me sparse details, like this:
> 
> NAME:
> 
> AGE (in relation to Lara Jean and the gang):
> 
> DESCRIPTION and GENDER (basic):
> 
> HOUSE:
> 
> BEST SUBJECT:
> 
> ONE RANDOM DETAIL:
> 
> Remember to drop a comment if you're enjoying this!


	5. YEAR ONE: Dec-Jan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's always so weird. I feel stuck on this fic for weeks, I suddenly get inspiration, and I almost write it all in one day...

Professor Slughorn says that everyone has something they’re good at. He says that eventually, you’ll find it. 

Lara Jean believes him, to an extent. She believes that everyone has something deep inside of them that they just instinctively know, the way Margot is good at potions or how Professor Longbottom has always loved plants. What Lara Jean isn’t so sure about is that everyone will find it. Sure, here at school, everyone is given the best chance. But she doesn’t believe in the inherent  _ intelligence  _ of most. Call her a Slytherin, fine. She’s just seen enough people mess up the simplest of spells to think that they won’t be smart enough to magically find their niche. 

This does make Lara Jean sad. She knows the feeling of not belonging and she wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. 

Lara Jean doesn’t have this problem. She might feel apart from the Wizarding Community as a whole, always thinking too much like a muggle or for even defending her father’s life, but know where her skills lay is not something she still needs to figure out. 

Still, it’s not until December that Lara Jean realizes just how skilled in Charms she is. 

There seem to be three instances that overlap all at once, and by the end of the last week before hols, Lara Jean is more sure of her place at school than ever before.

As the class shuffles out of the Charms classroom, Professor Flitwick stops her. This is the first instance. 

“Did I perform a spell wrong?” Lara Jean frets, “I know my levitation charm is a little shaky, but I-,” 

“Oh! My dear, you’re fine!” Professor Flitwick laughs, “You’re using a third year levitation charm, I wouldn’t worry at all.” 

“Good,” Lara Jean relaxes all the way. She can’t help but fret. It’s close to examinations and she needs perfection. 

“I was actually going to inquire if you’ve ever thought about joining the dueling club?” 

Lara Jean frowns. She’s seen the posters around the school, however, never had an interest. It’s lead by Teddy Lupin right now. Despite only being 15 years old, he probably has one of the best claims, as his parents were huge parts of the Second Wizarding War and his godfather is  _ the  _ Harry Potter. She once saw them gathering in the dining hall, and while the colors that flashed around the room interested her, she didn’t stay long. 

“Well, no?” She says, “I’m not sure I’d be good at...combat. Plus, I heard from Holly who heard from Mafalda it’s a lot of Defense Against the Dark Arts. I’m only okay with that.” 

“Only okay? Not from what I’ve heard,” Professor Flitwick laughs, and Lara Jean gives a small smile, “And that’s also simply untrue. Charms- and hexes- make up almost all of the class. We used to have a Charms Club, but I still think you’d find this more enjoyable. Using charms in practical situations. You also look at problems differently. That’s what dueling is. Sometimes winning isn’t about drawing blood, but it’s tripping your opponent up with a tickling hex.”

Lara Jean tugs at her robes. 

“It’s not often I refer first-years. Anyone is welcome to join, of course, but first-years usually wouldn’t have enough built-up knowledge to really participate. I’d just consider it. I think you’d be very good.” 

After class, as Lara Jean walks through the halls, she does. Rather, she runs through all the charms and spells she’s been squirreling away in her mind. She imagines how to use them in a battle. She thinks about counter-curses. She thinks a lot, and slowly, it does become a mental game for her. Even if she hasn’t gotten the courage to approach Teddy, she thinks of scenarios. If someone threw a leg-lock hex at her, how would she respond? How would she block? How would she parry? 

She is thinking about this all the time by mid-week, when the second time happens. Margot is studying with her in the library. Gen is writing to her parents in the common room and Josh is...well, Lara Jean isn’t sure. She’s glad to have a moment alone with her older sister, though.

Margot has a set of flashcards in front of her. She has prompts that another one of her classmates wrote up for her; situations. It’s not unlike the mental puzzles Lara Jean has been crafting for herself. At each one, Margot flips through flash cards to decide which spells to use and in what order. 

Lara Jean happens to pay attention to her fifth problem, as she’s switching gears from Potions to Astronomy. 

She leans over Margot’s shoulder, reading the words:  _ You come across a tall tree with apples at the top. You need to collect five apples, without bruising them, to bring back for a potion. How do you get them down?  _

She sees that Margot has started to lay out her response; She would charm a branch into a broom, use levitation charms to hold the apples in the air as she picked them, and then carry them in her arms down. 

“What?” 

Lara Jean blinks at her sister, “Huh?” 

“You have a look on your face. One that you get whenever Kitty has done something stupid.” 

Lara Jean gnaws on her lip, “Well, I just...what happens if you lose concentration and the apples fall? Or worse, you do, because it’s just a branch keeping you up?” 

“Well I’d-,” Margot begins, but frowns, “I guess, maybe…” 

“What about  _ Molliare _ ?” 

“The charm to make seats more comfortable?” Margot repeated slowly. 

“Well, you know, it cushions things. So you could cushion the ground when the apples fall and never have to get in the air at all,” Lara Jean explains. It’s not just because she hates flying. She feels this is the most effective way, “And then if you use  _ Diffindo  _ to cut the stems, added with a  _ Scopis  _ charm so you can accurately see where you’re cutting, you’d be done fairly quickly.” 

“ _ Scopis?”  _ Margot flips through her flashcards.

“Oops, I might have read that in a 4th-year research book,” Lara Jean realizes, “It’s a targeting charm, for aim.” 

Margot stops what she’s doing, “How do you just remember all of that? And I would never think to use a  _ Molliare  _ for something other than cushions or a bed…” 

Lara Jean flushes, despite how proud she is. 

“I dunno. I guess I just…” she shrugs helplessly. Charms, she is now realizing, has never been difficult. 

The last moment is the night before they leave for their Holiday break. In the Slytherin Common room, as the Prefects pass out hot chocolate or warmed cider to congratulate everyone on an exam period finished, the first years discuss the tests. 

When the group starts twittering about the Charms exam, Lara Jean feels confident she’s aced it. Apparently, others don’t feel the same. 

“I thought that number two was so hard!” Lis whines, “He was purposely trying to trick us, I think,” She mumbled angrily. 

Lara Jean’s lips quirked into a smile, until she realizes all the Slytherin first-years are scowling. Even Gen is nodding in agreement, her eyes narrowed and frustrated. 

“None of those are situations you’d use  _ lumos _ ,” Gen said definitively, “I think Professor made a mistake. We can go and ask him after break.” 

“Well, actually,” Lara Jean finds her voice, as quiet and strained as it is to be speaking out against all these people, “The answer was ‘D’...light a candle.” 

The group looked at Lara Jean like she’d grown another head. 

“ _ Lumos  _ lights the tip of your wand. Not a candle,” Cressida said nastily. 

“But it can,” Lara Jean shot back, “Remember? Professor warned us that the light is really hot and your own wand can catch on fire if you’re not careful.” 

“But he never told us it could light things besides our wand,” Lis scratched her head. 

“It seemed like an obvious jump...not everything is always going to be spelled out,” Lara Jean slowly replied, but was starting to wonder if she was wrong, “Spells often have more usage than just the obvious one.” She continued rambling, to convince herself of her correct answer, “Besides, in Latin, it literally means ‘light’, so-,” 

She glanced at Gen. Her face was set into a scowl, almost a furious look. About what, Lara Jean wasn’t sure. As soon as Lara Jean looked her way, she shook her had. 

“I didn’t think of that, but you’re probably right,” She said with a tight smile, almost forced. 

“Lame,” Cressida intoned, “Sides. Only weirdos like Lara Jean could have gotten that.” 

“I don’t know if I’d call being ‘intelligent’ weird,” Holly swooped in, narrowing her eyes at the younger girl, “I think you’re just jealous.” 

Cressida stomped to her room, “It doesn’t matter. Daddy says he’ll get me into any job I want one day. School hardly matters.” 

As soon as she’d left, Lis looked at Lara Jean uncertainty. 

“Does  _ lumos  _ really mean ‘light’?” 

“Uh-huh. All the spells are in Latin,” Lara Jean said, picking at her nails, “It just makes sense.” 

Holly was looking at Lara Jean curiously, “Perhaps. Not many make that connection. Merlin knows I haven’t, but I guess.” 

“Only you would,” Gen bumped her arm, “But I mean that in the nicest of ways.” 

Lara Jean had thought everyone made that realization. 

However, she thought about her months leading to her Hogwarts letter. When she’d been pouring over that first-year spell book, praying for magic at her fingers, she’d noticed all the words sounded funny. For awhile, she’d thought she wasn’t doing magic because she was pronouncing the spells wrong. So she’d looked up the Latin. From there, it was a quick jump and hop to see that spells and charms were just mixtures of Latin words. She learned Latin quickly, with a precision and interested toward charm work. She understood where each spell came from, the latin root and meaning and connected it to all the ways it could be used. 

She knew magic was more than throwing latin words together, sure, but it didn’t hurt to know it either. If you said words that sounded like latin, perhaps 25% of the time you’d end up saying a real spell. 

More than that, there’d been so many times in class that Professor Flitwick would inquire to the class about what a spell would do. Lara Jean had always been dumbfounded as to why none of the students understood, immediately, what the spell probably did. 

For example,  _ Colloportus  _ came from the latin words ‘colligo’ and ‘portus’. Colligo meant to bind something, to glue it. Portus meant door. Binding a door...gluing a door...securing a door...locking a door...locking things...jumping between the words had been mentally only moments away. Lara Jean had stared at the rest of the class, who wore blank expressions, while she threw her hand up and she wondered why the heck no one else knew? Wasn’t it so obvious? 

She now saw it wasn’t. 

As near embarrassed as she was that she was the only person to have seen this, more so, Lara Jean was proud. 

She went to bed murmuring Latin under her breath. 

XXxXX

“Are you gunna write me, Lara Jean?” 

Lara Jean looked at the doors of the compartment on the train to see Peter lingering by the threshold, his bag slung over his shoulder. Right now he looked almost smug. No, not smug, confident. That smile that made teachers just shake their heads at him. 

The train was stopped in Platform 9 and ¾, students streaming off to go home for the winter. Lara Jean, Gen, Josh, Holly, and Margot had all been sharing a compartment. Margot was alwardy gone, hugging some Ravenclaws goodbye before disembarking.

Peter had come out of nowhere, or rather, stopped on his way off. 

“I-,” 

“Why?” Gen flippantly questioned, “You’re just her Flying tutor,” She reminded him. 

“It’s also a short break, but-,” Lara Jean started, intending to say they might get one owl in, but she didn’t want to be mean. Plus, she didn’t dislike Peter. 

“Oh,” Peter’s whole smile dropped, “I guess...you’re right. Both of you. I just thought-,” 

“You were friends?” Gen snickered. Lara Jean sent her a nasty, angry expression. 

“Sorta…” 

“Gryffindors think everyone is their friend, ugg.” 

“I think you mean Hufflepuffs,” Holly quipped, looking awkward. Josh too was trying not to be noticed, but sent Peter an apologetic look. 

“Still.” Gen huffed, “What are you waiting for?” She asked, making a ‘shoo’ motion with her hand. Peter looked ready to say something else, but moped away. 

“Genevieve!” Lara Jean cried, furious. 

“If you encourage them too much, they’ll just hang around like lap dogs.” Gen said, “I’m doing you a favor.” 

“He’s only ever been nice to you!” 

Lara Jean grasped her things, stomping off the train, intending to find him. He had already vanished into the crowd. 

“Lara Jean, wait,” Gen leapt after her, “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you actually liked his company.” 

“I don’t know if I would have written him, but,” Lara Jean crossed her arms, “What? You’re only nice to people if I like them? How about being nice to everyone.” 

“That sounds like a lot of work,” Gen said. She said it so honestly, with such a face that Lara Jean couldn’t help but laugh a little, “If I see him, I’ll apologize,” She said with the longest sigh in the world. 

“Thank you.” 

“Lara!” A tiny blob darted through the crowd, attaching itself to Lara Jean’s leg. 

“Hey, Kitty! Where’s dad?” Lara Jean hugged her sister back. 

“I’ll see you soon, yeah?” Gen said, patting Lara Jean’s shoulder as she left, “Have a happy holiday!” 

“You too.” 

“Honey, there you are! I’m going to get lost forever in here one of these days,” Lara Jean’s father huffed, finding the pair. 

“Dad!” 

“Hi, honey. You have a good fall? Want to come back and live with me?” He teased as he pulled her into a big hug. 

“Not a chance,” Her eyes shone, “I have so much to tell you!” 

XXxxXX

Christmas was a haul. Lara Jean got no less than five new spell books, to which she eagerly tore into before the gift-giving was even finished. She also got a couple new clothing items, some fancy colored ink, and her favorite candy. From Kitty, she got a new journal, embossed in her name. From Josh she got a pack of Bertie Bots Every Flavored Bean, with a note that they’d eat them together over break. From Gen, she got a set of ‘purse potions’, like a mini vial of Pepper-Up and simple Anti-Pain; things that any witch or wizard may need on a day to day basis. From Holly, she got a soft green and silver sweater she’d been knitting.

The most curious gift was from Margot. 

The box was tiny; hidden behind the tree. 

She opened it...and found nothing.

Lara Jean shook it, wondering if there was an invisibility charm on it. She dumped it upside down. So far, empty. 

She looked at Margot questioningly. 

“Oh! You opened my gift.” Margot stood up, coming to sit by her, “It’s not finished.” 

“Huh,” Lara Jean held the box in her lap, “Well, you could have told me. I’m not upset-,” 

“No, it’s purposely not finished.” 

“Sounds like you’re laaaaazyyyy.” Kitty teased from the couch. 

“It needs to be finished at school,” Margot snapped at Kitty. She breathed in, “We were learning that there are magical items that are imbued with magical qualities. Like wands. You don’t just pick it up in a forest and wave a stick around. I digress. We also discussed about how family casters can make items stronger. So I thought we’d charm something- I haven’t decided what yet- at school. Something you wear all the time, like fabric or a necklace or...I dunno what.” Margot finished.

Lara Jean beamed, “That’s so cool! I can’t wait! Thanks Margot!” She threw her arms around her sister. 

“It still might not work,” Kitty reminded. 

“Gee, thanks, Kit.” 

XXxxXX

Later that night, after a very long dinner with relatives, Lara Jean came back to her room.

They hadn’t ever met her maternal grandparents, although now they were in the wizarding world, it was just a matter of time. They always met with her father’s parents instead. Up until this year, Lara Jean had always liked seeing them. This year, it was just tedious. No one could mention anything about the Wizarding World and her grandparents asked her and Margot  _ a lot  _ of questions about her new boarding school. 

She hadn’t paid attention to the previous two years to Margot’s fake answers. She should have prepared better. 

She was always just worried she was going to slip up. That she’d reveal something and the Ministry would appear and obliviate her family and send her to Azkaban. Margot said she was overreacting, but Lara Jean didn’t think so. 

They stayed about four hours, with plans to meet later, but it seemed like an eternity of questions Lara Jean wasn’t ready to answer. By the time they left, she was exhausted and had a mental list of all the items to pre-arrange with Margot, so their stories matched. 

She’d figure that out tomorrow though. 

She slid into her desk seat, spying the new inks on her desk. 

She took out a sheet of paper, dipping a quill in. She paused above the paper, unsure what to write. 

She remembered Peter’s forlorn face on the train. It popped into her mind without warning, and then, she couldn’t get it out. 

She wrote him,  in her opinion, a nice letter. She apologized for Gen’s behavior, yet again. She explained she did think they were friends, not just a tutor-student relationship. She said she was happy he was always nice to her and thought of her, despite being in a different house. She wrote about her Christmas, and asked him what his family did? She ended it with a flourished signature, one she’d been practicing. 

She realized she didn’t know his address, but it didn’t matter. 

She took it down to her owl. 

“Can you take this to Peter Kavinsky, please?” She asked, holding it out. Owls were magical. They knew the way...she hoped.

Her owl cooed and took the letter. 

She hoped it found its way to Peter. 

XXxxXX

New Year's Eve found the Coveys next door at the Sanderson’s, along with a group of other neighborhood families. Lara Jean was able to reconnect with some of her childhood friends, who didn’t need even magic to be impressed by her boarding school. For the first time in a very long time, Lara Jean felt...cool. 

Still, she migrated outside, away from the noise soon enough. She kicked her feet in the fluffy snow of Josh’s backyard, her house scarf wrapped around her nose. Sure, it had only been a week and a half, but Lara Jean missed Hogwarts already.

No, she missed  _ magic _ . She missed how it settled over her skin, the taste of it on her tongue, the feel of it. It was everywhere, even when she didn’t notice it. Here? It was just missing. It felt less real here, some weird dream or simulation. 

“Hey, you ok?” 

Lara Jean turned to Josh. He came offering two glasses. 

“I got the red stuff. Not the white.” 

“Yeah, the white fake-champagne is gross. It’s known,” Lara Jean teased in agreement, accepting the cup with her cold fingers. 

Josh motioned to the tree. He used his gloved hands to brush away a place for them to sit. 

As they sipped their fake-wine, watching the starry sky, Lara Jean felt a bit of the magic she’d been missing creep back in. 

“So, has it been worth it?” Josh asked. Lara Jean took the jellybeans from her pocket, shaking out a handful. She turned them up for him, let him rifle through for a black one, “Licorice or ash.” 

“What? This Christmas? I mean, sure.” Lara Jean said. Josh had already popped the candy in, and started choking.

“Ash. Def ash.” He spat on the snow, “No, I mean being a witch.” 

“Oh. That’s easy. Of course.” Lara Jean couldn’t imagine another answer. She picked up a pink candy. Bubblegum or lobster. She chewed carefully. Thank Merlin, bubblegum. 

“I don’t know why, but I always worried about you at Hogwarts.” 

Lara Jean felt her heart drop. “Hmm,” She replied, but her stomach felt weird. 

“Just because you’d set your mind to anything. And that’s dangerous.” 

“So what? I should just never do anything?” Lara Jean asked, scowling. 

“No. Yes? I’m not sure.” He paused for a good long time, picking his next words carefully, “I just don’t want anything to happen to you.” 

“Josh,” Lara Jean laughed, “I could walk out that door and be hit by a car. I’m not safer here. And Hogwarts is pretty safe. Plus I’m good at what I do.” 

There was another long pause. Josh got a dirt bean, instead of chocolate. Lara Jean knew because his face scrunched up. 

“I’m thinking of joining dueling club.” 

She hadn’t, not definitively, until that moment. She’d imagined it in passing, but now as she spoke it, she realized she did want to throw herself into this. 

“People’s bones get broken sometimes in that.” 

“As they do riding dragons,” Lara Jean pointed out, “I’m not fragile, gosh!” She stood up. 

“You’re just my best friend,” Josh expressed, “Lara Jean, I worry. Like I do about my parents or my friends in Hufflepuff. Caring too much is one of our key traits.” 

“I think you care the right amount.” Lara jean whispered. If she were bolder, she may take his hand in hers or kiss his cheek. She opted just for a quick hug. 

One day, she told herself, she’d get the courage to tell him. 

XXxxXX

Lara Jean was entirely ready to return to Hogwarts by the time holidays ended. She would miss certain things; like her queen sized bed and really soft sheets, or the way her dad made the best tea, but they were little in the long run. She missed Hogwarts so much more. 

Gen wouldn’t be returning until the second day of classes, as her family was off in the Alps having a probably wonderful time. She couldn’t wait to see her again. 

It was grand reuniting with Holly, who hugged her tightly and excitedly told Lara Jean about her vacation. Lara Jean listened intently all the while. That first morning, Josh sat with them at breakfast, in the absent seat of Gen. 

Lara Jean reached for his mug of hot chocolate, a familiar motion, but spat at the taste.

“Josh, is this Mountain Dew?” She asked. She’d always hated the flavor of the soda. If she were going to drink something, root beer or Coca Cola was far superior. 

“You like that shit?” Holly, who had only tried muggle soda once, found it weird and too sugary. This in particular was unappealing to her, something Lara Jean had been trying to say for years. 

“I brought some cans back in my suitcase. I was going through withdrawal, Lara Jean!” He dramatically exclaimed, “Withdrawal!” 

“What happens when you finish those cans?” 

“I wither away and die,” he said, straight-faced. 

“Or beg your parents to send you more?” Lara Jean prompted. 

“Yeah, or that.” 

A note landed squarely in front of Lara Jean. She uncurled it to see it was from Peter, who had thrown it rather accurately across the tables. 

“Ooh? Is it something scandalous?” Holly asked with a bit too much excitement. 

“No, just Peter, asking if we can meet on Thursday for more lessons.” She said, remodeling the note. That’s actually all it was. It didn’t say anything about her Christmas letter. She hoped it actually made it to him.

“Did he always do it like that?” Holly craned her neck to look across the tables. 

“Yes,” Lara Jean lied. He hadn’t but she didn’t want to give Holly a reason to tease either of them. Usually, he asked during class, but this wasn’t unwanted either. Lara Jean appreciated having the actual piece of parchment in front of her, something tactile. 

“You could have asked me. I’m not bad on a broom,” Josh said for the umpteenth time. Lara Jean, foolishly, liked to imagine maybe he was jealous of Peter. She doubted this, as much as she hoped. 

“He was assigned. He’s a good teacher, honestly,” Lara Jean said, as she always did. She probably could have switched her tutor to Josh, and the part of her that longed for him wondered why she hadn’t yet. 

Across the room, she gave a thumbs up to Peter.

Something about the brightness in his smile reminded her why she continued on with Peter, although she admitted she didn’t know what the feeling was. 

XXxxXX

“Okay, so where did we leave off after break?” 

Lara Jean bit her lip, staring at Peter. She adjusted her hat and mittens, shivering as a winter breeze chilled her to her bones. She took out her wand, whispering a warming charm under her breath. She had perfected charming an area to be warm, but not so much a moving person. She scowled at her inability to complete the charm.

“What was that?” Peter asked. 

“A warming charm,” She said, “One that didn’t work.” 

A flash of panic crossed Peter’s face, “Crap, we didn't learn that-,” 

“No, I found it. In an older textbook,” She paused, “Last time we met, I’d managed to get the broom to come to me...sorta.” 

Peter nodded in thought, as though reconnecting the last lesson to his current state. He kicked away the snow a little with his foot, setting down the broom. 

“Okay,” He lifted both his hands to show his fingers crossed, “Let’s do it.” 

Lara Jean took in a deep breath, holding her hand out above it.

“Up,” She said confidently. Well, semi-confidently. Convincingly confidently if she had to classify it.

The broom did not move.

She tried thrice more, but nothing seemed to work.

Peter wasn’t ruffled.

“Okay, okay, it’s been a long break,” He held up his hands, “But I think you’re falling into the same pitfalls. You can’t lie to magic. I might think that you sound like you want the broom to come to you, but the broom knows.” 

“The broom is a piece of wood,” Lara Jean choked out. 

“Well, how does your wand know the spells you say out loud?” Peter challenged. Lara Jean scowled. He’d one-upped her on that, she had to admit. 

“Well, then it knows. I hate flying.” 

“Lara Jean,” Peter clicked his tongue. 

“What?” She snipped back. 

“I’m honestly just trying to imagine it. You failing Flying. Literally failing. A troll, or worse. You-,” 

“Okay, I get it!” Lara Jean sighed, wishing she could just be inside, “I’m awful.” 

“Maybe I’ve been going about this the wrong way,” Peter said with a sudden burst of clarity, “Lara Jean, what terrifies you more? Failing or flying?” 

“Failing.” Lara Jean didn’t even have to think. 

Peter motioned to the broom, eyebrows raised. 

“Up.” 

The broom came to her immediately. 

“Peter, look!” Lara Jean cried, so relieved it almost hurt. As relieved as she’d been the moment she turned the lights off in her bedroom. 

“Woah, calm down. There’s still a lot to learn.” Peter said, but was beaming, “Can we move on then?” 

“What next?” 

They spent the next hour more productive than ever before. Lara Jean still abhorred the idea of flying, but Peter had made a fair point. She wasn’t going to fail any exams at year’s end. She would do it out of spite; which was a common Slytherin way of looking at things. 

As the lesson wrapped up, and Lara Jean prepared to go back inside and take a nice long hot bath, Peter stopped her.

“So, uh, Lara Jean...Merry Belated Christmas,” He mumbled, shoving out a badly wrapped present in front of her. It looked like a blind-folded monkey had done it, which told Lara Jean that Peter himself had done this. Something about that was endearing. 

She took it gently. 

“Peter, I,” Her throat went dry with shame, “I didn’t-,” 

“You sent me that letter. On Christmas.” Peter replied, “So, you sorta did give me a gift. I was sure you wouldn’t.” 

“I’m not cruel,” Lara Jean whispered, feeling almost hurt, “I might be a Slytherin, but I’m not like-,” 

She cut off hard. She swallowed. She didn’t want to be saying awful things about her best friend. 

“I know that. But I still...anyway, it’s not much.” Peter said, brushing it away. He still lingered, head tilted.

Lara Jean unwrapped it. She was careful not to rip the paper. The paper was a pair of Hippogriffs with wreaths around their necks, zig-zagging through the green background. She wanted to keep this for herself, maybe tucked away in a box. 

Inside was a box. Inside the box was a thin charm on a delicate necklace. It was clear it wasn’t terribly expensive, but it still was a step above costume jewelry. On the end of the chain was a silver snake. When Lara Jean set it down on her palm, it slithered in a circle, before pausing again. She could feel the enchantment on it. 

“I was with my parents and I saw this in a store and I just...well, I thought you might like it. I dunno,” Peter said unsure, his face bright red, “I mean, sure, it’s a little on the nose but-,” 

“I love it,” Lara Jean felt the words bubble over, “It’s really nice, Peter.” 

Peter smiled for a second, his face indescribably happy as Lara Jean clipped it onto her neck, before shrugging,  as though it was no big deal, “Just, I guess, thanks for being my friend.” 

“You don’t have to thank me for that.” Lara Jean’s father had taught her to be kind to most, to keep friends, to make an effort. She wasn’t going to listen to Gen, because Peter was an okay guy. 

“I really do,” Peter insisted, “So, well,” He clapped his hands, startling Lara Jean, “We continue to meet next week?” 

“You still think we have to meet weekly?” Lara Jean tried to stifle her long sigh. 

Peter laughed, “I think it may be a miracle to save your grade. But it’s an undertaking I’m willing to do.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to bring back to the attention of some, because there's been some questions, this is a slightly AU'verse...  
> A lot of the BIG THINGS are the same, but some of the 'end couples' are changed.  
> *It started with making Lara Jean a Black. In my mind, her grandmother was the 4th Black Sister, the youngest after Andromeda, Bellatrix, and Narcissa   
> *The canon character couples are: Hermione/Draco, Harry/Daphne Greengrass, Neville/Ginny, Ron/Luna, Hannah/Cedric, George/Verity. This is due to personal preference. They won't be talked about a ton, but they are there!   
> -If you want to see a full list of their kids and the kid's personalities, go to my art tumblr 'youngbloodlex22' where I've been posting and will continue to post every day a new artwork set based on these OC kids!


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